you are proposing that if we all stop tipping, companies will be motivated to pay their workers; you are correct, this is what would happen if we all stopped tipping at the same time.
this process is known as collective action. it is incredibly important to remember that collective action only works when it actually happens. in other words, your individual action of not tipping your waiter is ONLY beneficial to your waiter if you can make sure one else tips either.
do you have this power? (i think you don’t; if you do i beg of you to exercise it lol.)
now consider who actually holds the power here. at any point, your restaurant’s owner could institute a no-tip policy, thereby ensuring that no one has to tip, ever. several restaurants already have done this, and it works. now, you might (correctly) note that this may gives an unfair advantage to other competing restaurants who do not implement no-tip policy. this is where local and regional policy can come in to help coordinate transitioning to a more helpful model of compensating employees.
so there’s kind of this imbalance, where yeah technically it’s possible for us as eaters of food to “fix” the tipping problem, but its way way easier for the people in charge (whether that’s government or owners) to fix it, because they have the power of coordination on their side.
tldr, tip your waiters and advocate for anti-tipping policies if you want to maximize long term benefits for everyone.
frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 8 months ago
I agree with you, actually. If you don’t want to tip, fine, don’t tip. But don’t go to a restaurant and then not tip, either, because not only are you still giving the company money, you’re shortchanging the actual person you want to help.
Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
We are not short changing anyone. A tip isn’t a guaranteed income from working.
Also, not going to the restaurant just means they will end up getting fired or let go because the restaurant ultimately gets closed or closes early because no one goes.
Now they have no job or even less money.
Tips are NOT income.
frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 8 months ago
I’m not contradicting myself. All of my points can coexist.
You’re correct, a tip is not guaranteed income, that’s the entire problem. I don’t understand why what I’m saying is so hard to understand. The company will only make up for lost tips for a waiter for so long before they’re fired. Continuing to go out to eat and then not tipping changes nothing, it just makes the waitstaff’s lives harder.
Zoot@reddthat.com 8 months ago
If everyone today stopped tipping, do you think companies would suddenly begin to pay more? I’d wager that wage increases start with the waiting staff, and ends there. Why are you pushing the responsibility onto the customer?
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
I think their point is being missed.
In the USA at least in restaurants most servers work for tips. That’s 99.99% of their pay.
They’re saying that unfortunately because of a tipping culture you’re taking part in exploiting the worker unless you tip.
Businesses now adding tipping to POS for other stuff is their attempt to shift responsibility for paying their worker into you.
I think the dude you’re replying to is mixing their messages some.
frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 8 months ago
Thanks for the clarification. I sometimes get tunnel vision and forget people live in places with different laws and regulations. Yes, I’m specifically talking about US states where it’s legal to pay a waiter $2.13 an hour because tips make up the rest of federal minimum wage.
Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I’m bad with words. Thank you
Laraxus@kbin.social 8 months ago
The hostility is entirely unnecessary. If you eat out and don't tip, the only person you're hurting is the person you claim to want to help. If you can't tip, eat at home. If you can, then do so while still fighting for better workers rights. It's really not a difficult concept to grasp.
KillerTofu@lemmy.world 8 months ago
But this is specific to sit down restaurants. Do I tip when all I receive is counter service? Or take out?
Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Who said I go out to eat to help others? What?!