Tipped workers seek higher wage

[Omaha Steve]

Rev. Brooke Newell, of NYS Council of Churches, speaks as advocates urge Gov. Cuomo to raise the minimum wage for the state's tipped sub-minimum wage, low-wage tipped workers Wednesday, July 9, 2014, during a press conference at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Tipped-workers-seek-higher-wage-5610556.php

$5 hourly minimum called unfair for restaurant jobs
By Matthew Hamilton

Albany

Carlos Tenemea and some New York City residents looking for a healthy meal rub shoulders on a daily basis.

But while those New Yorkers who come into the restaurant at which Tenemea works are served a nutritious meal, he says he can't afford one.

Tenemea, a tipped worker in New York City, joined other tipped workers and labor advocates Wednesday to call on the state minimum wage board, which is soon to be convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to recommend to the state labor commissioner that tipped workers' pay be brought up to par with the state's minimum wage. While that wage currently sits at $8 and is set to rise to $9 next year, Tenemea and his colleagues say they work for $5 and up — a wage they say isn't sustainable.

"I am here today to say that $5 is not enough to live off of," Tenemea, a Spanish-speaking busboy, said through a translator. "We need justice. It's incredible to me that in the 21st century people in New York are still living in poverty."

FULL story at link.