Eat the Working Class

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer rekindled a smoldering debate Monday when he said minimum-wage workers who earn tips should have their wages reduced.

Minnesota is one of seven states that forbids employers from using a "tip credit" to avoid paying the full minimum wage otherwise required by law. The prohibition unfairly burdens restaurants and small business owners and makes prices higher for consumers, and it should be ended, Emmer said.

In another article in the Minnesota Independent, Emmer claimed that many waiters and waitresses were making over $100,000 a year.

Tom Emmer, the GOP-endorsed candidate for governor, told reporters at the Eagle Street Grille in St. Paul on Monday that the minimum wage for service workers who earn tips should be cut. Some waiters and bartenders, he noted, can earn as much as $100,000 a year, which he said is unfair to the employers that hire them.

“With the tips that they get to take home, they are some people earning over $100,000 a year. More than the very people providing the jobs and investing not only their life savings but their families’ future,” Emmer said.

In a followup article and interview:

The owner of the Eagle Street Grill told a Star Tribune columnist on Tuesday that none of his servers make $100,000 a year. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer used an example of Eagle Street servers making that kind of money as a reason to institute a “tip credit” in Minnesota, which would lower servers’ minimum wage pay. Eagle Street owner Joe Kasel said, “No way, shape or form did I [tell Emmer] anyone made $100,000.”

For all overpaid waiters and waitresses out there, you can contact Tom, who currently serves as a representative in the Minnesota House of Representatives at rep.tom.emmer@house.mn or by phone at 651-296-4336. His campaign office number is (952)562-2600.