The phenomenon of a 'subminimum wage', supplemented by customer tips, is an outdated practice whose origins are [closely linked with slavery] (https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/12/16/fact-check-tipping-kept-wages-low-formerly-enslaved-black-workers/3896620001/).

• The 'subminimum wage' upheld in 43 US states is only $2.13 an hour. In theory, workers can make up the rest of their wage through tips, and if they don't, their employer is supposed to pay the difference. But the US Department of Labour found that nearly [84% of restaurants investigated weren't making up their worker's wages] (https://files.epi.org/2014/EPI-CWED-BP379.pdf).

• Tipping became popular in the US in the mid-1800s because it meant businesses could hire recently emancipated slaves and not pay them. This meant that many former slaves had to work for next to nothing. And racial/gender imbalances are also present in the modern-day tipping culture — studies have shown that Black and Latinx tipped workers [make significantly less] (https://www.marketplace.org/2021/02/09/how-end-slavery-two-minimum-wages/) from tips than their white counterparts. It has also been found that women who rely on tips for a large percentage of their income [report twice the amount of sexual harassment] (https://forwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-Glass-Floor-Sexual-Harassment-in-the-Restaurant-Industry.pdf) from customers than those that don't, because they have no choice but to put up with it.

• So, ultimately: yes, a minimum wage — like [Biden's proposition] (https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-minimum-wage-proposal-when-would-it-reach-15-an-hour-11612550898) of an industry-wide $15 an hour — should be the standard for workers. Relying on customer satisfaction and, to an extent, their whim, to make a living is unsustainable. It's the case today more than ever, with many customers blaming front-of-house staff for the enforcement of COVID regulations, mask-wearing measures, etc.