r/antiwork Jan 14 '22 Silver 5 Helpful 16 Wholesome 10

So sorry, I'm broke so I can only pay you $77 for my food. You were great though.

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u/Abbaddonhope Jan 15 '22

Can’t they just pay everyone involved more

51

u/Lonely_Animator4557 Jan 15 '22

They could but that could decrease profits and decrease stock value which would anger the investors and cause them to switch cfo or ceo or some other multi million dollar position which they can’t

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u/[deleted] Jan 15 '22

Most restaurants aren't publicly traded and have no obligation to stock holders. It's purely the restaurant owner being a greedy sociopath most of the time lmao

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u/goldenopal42 Jan 15 '22

They’re usually working with some kind of borrowed/invested money though. If only for accounting purposes. That money will move to a different industry where the employees can be exploited better.

Sad fact of American capitalism is the best way to ensure your service person gets paid enough to continue to perform the service you want is to give them the money directly.

I am not saying it’s a great system, but I don’t understand why people are so put off by it either.

I don’t want to pay you. The one I am interacting with. The one here actually doing the work for me. I want to pay your boss and let him figure out what you should earn.

Why? I don’t get it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '22

“I don’t want to pay you. The one I am interacting with. The one here actually doing the work for me. I want to pay your boss and let him figure out what you should earn.”

Why? I don’t get it.

Well, on its own, I can see why one wouldn't trust their boss with money that would otherwise be handed directly to workers via tips. But now imagine a unionized restaurant with high base wages for servers. Isn't that the ultimate goal with an antiwork movement? Unions, higher base wages, income stability and protections? Without tipped wages, your income becomes dependent on the number of hours you put in and not how lucky you get with your tables (which makes it more stable), you're incentivized to pick up the slack for your coworkers if they're struggling or overwhelmed, and the consumer can more accurately gage how much their dinner will cost them.

Realistically, servers should be paid a base wage alongside a union-negotiated quarterly profit sharing that is outlined very carefully in a contract.