Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be returning to restaurant work this week to show support for measures that would raise the minimum wage and pay New York’s tipped employees a full wage.
“We’re very grateful for our partnership with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who fully understands the struggles of these workers. As a former tipped worker, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez can shed light on the importance of One Fair Wage to lift up these workers and their families,” Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and president of Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United, said to the New York Daily News. ROC, a nonprofit group, advocates for restaurant workers.
The freshman congresswoman will pour drinks and take orders Friday in a soon-to-be-announced restaurant in her district of Bronx and Queens.
The two legislations Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is supporting include the federal Raise the Wage Act, which would double the country’s minimum wage by 2024, and the state measure One Fair Wage, which would provide tipped employees a full minimum wage.
Federal minimum wage requires tipped employees make $2.13 an hour unless they do not earn the full minimum wage after tips, which they must make at least $7.25 an hour.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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