A coalition of prominent Los Angeles restaurateurs called on the Los Angeles City Council on Monday to count tips as part of higher minimum wages now being debated.
Restaurant owners and some of their employees held a news conference at Taix French Restaurant in Echo Park, where they voiced a desire for waiters and other tipped workers to be treated differently under proposed $13.25- or $15.25-per-hour wage hike plans, because they often earn at or above those wage levels.
Several workers stood with signs reading, "I make $35/hr, I don't need a raise! Total compensation," "The City Council can SAVE MY BUSINESS!" and "MAKE TIPS COUNT!"
The coalition asked the council to consider a "total compensation" exception in which employers would be allowed to meet the higher minimum wages by including any tips received by workers. If workers earn less than the minimum wage after tips are counted, the employers would make up the
difference.
Caroline Styne, a Los Angeles-area restaurant owner, said she'd have to jack up her prices to make up the money.
"In order to cover this cost, we will need to increase our costs to 40 percent," Styne said. "So your $30 steak is dramatically more expensive. The public just won't be able to pay it."
Akida Mashaka, co-owner of Silver Lake's Hyperion Public, said a hike for everyone would mean both hours and jobs lost, but he does support increasing the base wage for kitchen workers, or "back of the house" employees who don't work off tips.
Zach Negin, a waiter at downtown eatery Bestia, urged the council to consider the total compensation exception, saying his total pay already includes an average $20 to $25 per hour in tips.
"I don't need an hourly raise,'' Negin said. "But my co-workers in the kitchen who maybe already make $15 per hour won't be able to get raises as quickly if I am to get a raise. So not only do I already make more than they do because I receive tips, but I get a raise and they don't. Is that fair?"
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The group also offered to pay for a study into the wage hike proposals' effect on the restaurant industry, and asked that such a study be done before the council acting on the plans.
"Small restaurants needed to be heard,'' former investment banker- turned restaurateur George Abou-Daoud said. "We found out right away that while the city had conducted a number of studies, none had looked at the unique issues of restaurants."
Abou-Daoud said the coalition includes about 300 restaurants whose operators support a wage hike, but only if it includes the "total compensation" exception for employers of tipped workers.
"Restaurants have played a key role in the revitalization in Los Angeles over the past decade," said restaurant owner Bill Chait. "Today, we have a thriving food industry that we once only dreamed of. I am proud to be a part of this community, but I am also concerned for its survival.''
