Prop 77 - still torn!!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Well now as customers we should be ready to pay more. Since most places can’t afford the full staff they might need to trim the staff. So we pay more for the food and wait longer for food to be served since there will be shortage of employees on the floor .Most people will not pay tip anymore I am sure . So my friends who are waitresses will be making $12.50 instead of $35 per hours . Restaurants will have no choice but raise the prices to come up with $12.50 per hour which until now we covered by tips .I think there should have been some new laws to go after those employers who cheated theirs emolyees out of their salary not to punish all other law abiding businesses . Nobody wins from this . Customers pay more get less service , tipped employees no longer make good money to live and work in DC .

The initiative is supported to be phased in so nothing will happen immediately. Moreover, the Council will likely modify or overturn it. Your friends will not see any changes as a result of the initiative for some time, if at all.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The count is now complete and the initiative passed. One interesting thing is the geographic distribution of votes. The strongest support for the initiative was in the less well off parts of town inhabited by African Americans. The strongest opposition came from the wealthiest and whitest parts of town. Rock Creek Park is essentially the dividing line with everything west opposed and everything east in favor.

That's interesting. Brandon Todd has said he planned on voting no.

Most of the Council was against the initiative. The Mayor is also opposed it and Todd is her lapdog so I would expect him to be against it. Many Council members are out of sync with their constituents on this issue. Cheh supported the initiative while her constituents are the strongest opponents. Several EOTP CMs opposed it while their constituents largely supported it.

Respectfully, Jeff, how in the world do you know this? I never saw any polling on the initiative and I've been following it pretty closely. And while it did pass tonight, turnout was extremely low and the "yes" vote barely constituted 10 percent of DC's registered voters.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:The count is now complete and the initiative passed. One interesting thing is the geographic distribution of votes. The strongest support for the initiative was in the less well off parts of town inhabited by African Americans. The strongest opposition came from the wealthiest and whitest parts of town. Rock Creek Park is essentially the dividing line with everything west opposed and everything east in favor.

That's interesting. Brandon Todd has said he planned on voting no.

Most of the Council was against the initiative. The Mayor is also opposed it and Todd is her lapdog so I would expect him to be against it. Many Council members are out of sync with their constituents on this issue. Cheh supported the initiative while her constituents are the strongest opponents. Several EOTP CMs opposed it while their constituents largely supported it.

Respectfully, Jeff, how in the world do you know this? I never saw any polling on the initiative and I've been following it pretty closely. And while it did pass tonight, turnout was extremely low and the "yes" vote barely constituted 10 percent of DC's registered voters.

I'm going by the elections results. If people didn't care enough to vote, they certainly won't care about the position their CM has on the issue. But, of those who cared enough to vote, what I described is the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all,
To all my restaurant friends,
I rarely Facebook but I have to explain my position on prop 77 explicitly.
DC restaurant industry pays as little as possible per hour and has lobbied for over 20 years to do so (since 1991.) New prop will cause restaurants to lose money (over 10/hr) and so they have bankrolled a campaign called "save our tips."
Most local restaurants (on their own interest, obviously) have bankrolled this lobbying effort.
The lobbying firm behind this effort is the same who helped to elect Trump.
Please realize that a few states have legalized minimum wage for servers.
Please realize that BEFORE Prop 77 NO ONE KNEW WE MADE $3/ hr and THEY TIPPED 20%.
AFTER PROP 77, MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT BE AWARE OF THE CHANGE AND WILL CONTINUE TO TIP 15-20% This has already passed and prospered on the West coast.
This is a PROGRESSIVE measure, just like marijuana legalization and gay marriage, DC IS AHEAD OF THE CURVE.
The one downside of this bill is that it will negatively effect local small businesses. I acknowledge this, but maintain, that as the victims of an NRA (national restaurant assoc.) Lobbying effort for 20 + years, it SHOULD NOT BE ON THE BACK OF RESTAURANT WORKERS TO MAKE UP THIS DEFICIT.
Please text/call with questions and ask your co-workers this question: WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WILL LOSE TIPS? There is a lot of misinformation going on her, because your bosses are paying for this to save money.
Also, since most of your co workers have been convinced, as well as money-hungry council members and MS. Mayor Muriel, you have nothing to lose by voting YES!!!

Very deceptive.

Yes that's ridiculous. If you make a good wage, you don't need a tip.

You think 15/hour is a good wage?

Yes. Costco workers aren't tipped, nor are most other lower waged workers. We just hired our secretary at work for $20 an hour- no tips or bonus either and she has a BA.

Speak for yourself , I intend to keep tipping and so will others . Eating out is not in the bill of rights

[Anonymous]

I voted no even though in my particular case I might have been better off voting yes. My well- off customers would probably still tip and the tourists wouldn't ( the owner would cover it).
I didn't buy into the suggestion that prop 77 is good for women and minorities. Easy entry into the business and flexibility are good for women and minorities. So is abundance of vacancies we have in restaurant business in DC. I used to say that almost all restaurants are hiring all the time. Hope I can say it in 2025. People don't leave because they don't make money. They leave mostly because they learned the trade and moved on to a better restaurant or found a better fit. Some have left and come back. I find the flexibility and easy entry into business more important than money. I'm not sure it's going to stay like that.

[jsteele]

The implementation schedule for phasing out the tipped minimum wage is as follows:
July 2018: $4.50
July 2019: $6
July 2020: $7.50
July 2021: $9
July 2022: $10.50
July 2023: $12
July 2024: $13.50
July 2025: $15
https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/food/article/21010014/voters-pass-initiative-77-eliminating-tipped-minimum-wage-in-dc

From:

https://twitter.com/LauraHayesDC/status/1009261137337176065

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted against this in early voting. I know many servers and they are uniformly opposed. I’m not going to tell them I know better than they do about their own jobs and own lives.

I know servers, bartenders and 1 owner and they are all opposed. The Front of house staff would rather be tipped than make the same salary they could working retail. People will stop tipping because prices are going to go up. The good servers will not work to work in DC when they could make more $$ in VA or MD. This is a well meaning but misguided effort that will cause harm to the bottom line of many restaurants.

+1 my thoughts as well

[Anonymous]

As a sexist man, I am pleased to know this policy change will take money out of the pockets of hot women servers and put it in the pockets of ugly male servers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted against this in early voting. I know many servers and they are uniformly opposed. I’m not going to tell them I know better than they do about their own jobs and own lives.

I know servers, bartenders and 1 owner and they are all opposed. The Front of house staff would rather be tipped than make the same salary they could working retail. People will stop tipping because prices are going to go up. The good servers will not work to work in DC when they could make more $$ in VA or MD. This is a well meaning but misguided effort that will cause harm to the bottom line of many restaurants.

+1 my thoughts as well

But that hasn’t happened in other places where the tipped wage was eliminated. Customers still tip, and tipped workers are less likely to live in poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted against this in early voting. I know many servers and they are uniformly opposed. I’m not going to tell them I know better than they do about their own jobs and own lives.

I know servers, bartenders and 1 owner and they are all opposed. The Front of house staff would rather be tipped than make the same salary they could working retail. People will stop tipping because prices are going to go up. The good servers will not work to work in DC when they could make more $$ in VA or MD. This is a well meaning but misguided effort that will cause harm to the bottom line of many restaurants.

+1 my thoughts as well

But that hasn’t happened in other places where the tipped wage was eliminated. Customers still tip, and tipped workers are less likely to live in poverty.

Not when there is a line clearly reading “service charge” on all tickets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted against this in early voting. I know many servers and they are uniformly opposed. I’m not going to tell them I know better than they do about their own jobs and own lives.

I know servers, bartenders and 1 owner and they are all opposed. The Front of house staff would rather be tipped than make the same salary they could working retail. People will stop tipping because prices are going to go up. The good servers will not work to work in DC when they could make more $$ in VA or MD. This is a well meaning but misguided effort that will cause harm to the bottom line of many restaurants.

+1 my thoughts as well

But that hasn’t happened in other places where the tipped wage was eliminated. Customers still tip, and tipped workers are less likely to live in poverty.

Not when there is a line clearly reading “service charge” on all tickets

And service charges go to the house, not directly to the staff. It’s up to management to decide how to spend that service charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a sexist man, I am pleased to know this policy change will take money out of the pockets of hot women servers and put it in the pockets of ugly male servers.

older female here. My friends and I tip according to the service, so if a guy is friendly (sense of humor is a plus), attentive to our group, makes great suggestions as to what to order, he'll get a great tip--regardless of his appearance! We're not impressed with hot chicks, unless they're great servers.

[Anonymous]

For all the people that complain about all the chain restaurant versus locally owned,, prop 77 is going to kill off more local places. the folks who support prop 77 have NO IDEA how thin the margins are for locally owned places, this will force them to first cut staff and hours. But in the long run it will keep the locals from opening new businesses because their is no real profit. Get ready for more WAWAs instead of Pete's Pizza.... Hopefully council will overturn this.

[Anonymous]

That $15 an hour in 2025 is going to cost my employer extra $10k a month vs what it is now. I hope he can make changes slowly to get ready for it. Not sure if it's worth for him to keep the place open.
So which one is it- are the prices going to go up or is there going to be a "service charge" line item?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That $15 an hour in 2025 is going to cost my employer extra $10k a month vs what it is now. I hope he can make changes slowly to get ready for it. Not sure if it's worth for him to keep the place open.
So which one is it- are the prices going to go up or is there going to be a "service charge" line item?

As a small business owner (mom and pop type shop) I would not be able to remain open and keep the staff I have with this kind of increase, even phased in.

It is a bad idea from outside of the state interest groups that means well but has no common sense.