{"id":534,"date":"2013-01-08T15:04:31","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T18:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thatfinalstraw.com\/?p=534"},"modified":"2015-07-07T16:26:13","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T19:26:13","slug":"philadelphia-server-victoria-bruton-speaks-out-about-the-sub-minimum-wage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thatfinalstraw.com\/?p=534","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia server, Victoria Bruton, speaks out about the sub-minimum wage."},"content":{"rendered":"

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I am so proud of this video that features a friend of mine, Victoria Bruton. Victoria has been a server in the restaurant industry for more than 20 years. In this video she tells how she has struggled to raise her family at times. <\/p>\n

She has told this story in public events before.<\/p>\n

I know that it is really hard to share stories about being poor while you work and try your best.<\/p>\n

The words just get stuck in your throat.<\/p>\n

Victoria is a strong one though and she has always spoken with courage and conviction.<\/p>\n

This video beautifully and poignantly brings in her daughters who now work in the restaurant industry too. They also, are earning less than $3\/hour, just as their mother did 23 years prior.<\/p>\n

The sub-minimum wage, or “tipped minimum” wage is a terrible injustice and it has to end.<\/p>\n

Restaurant owners are the only business people in our nation that don’t pay for the labor of their employees. The current tipped-minimum wage is $2.13\/hour nationally and $2.83\/hour in Pennsylvania. Most servers don’t even get a paycheck, just a pay stub showing that paying taxes wiped out every cent of the $2.13\/hour.<\/p>\n

I often hear of restaurant owners being praised for their charitable work. How can you claim to be generous while not paying the workers that guarantee your success?<\/p>\n

Generous owners should stand with us to demand that the federal government raise the tipped wage and re-link it to the federal minimum wage. <\/p>\n