U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez returns to bartending to promote fair wages

Push for universal US$15 minimum wage continues

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez makes a drink in support of One Fair Wage, a policy that would allow tipped workers to receive full minimum wage plus their tips in New York, at The Queensboro restaurant in the Queens borough, on May 31. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

NEW YORK (Reuters) — U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took lunch orders, served pizza and rocked the cocktail shaker on Friday to promote increased wages for restaurant servers and other tipped workers.

The New York Democrat and media sensation, who famously worked as a bartender before getting elected to Congress last year, brought first-hand experience to the debate over the proposed "Raise the Wage Act," which would raise the U.S. minimum wage to $15 (all figures U.S.) an hour and guarantee that minimum for tipped employees.


"Any job that pays $2.13 per hour is not a job, it is indentured servitude," Ocasio-Cortez told restaurant workers, customers and reporters at the Queensboro Restaurant in her New York City district, in a reference to the lowest possible wage before tips.


The National Restaurant Association, the industry lobbying group, has opposed the Raise the Wage Act, saying it would harm restaurants that typically rely on margins between three per cent and six per cent, and that the tip credit allows tipped employees to earn far more than the minimum wage.





A separate bill, the Be Heard Act, would overhaul workplace harassment laws. Both bills could pass the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, but would face long odds in the Republican-controlled Senate.

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