Readers React: The solution to restaurants’ miniumum-wage quandary: Eliminate tipping

To the editor: The quandary over having tips count toward a server’s pay for the purposes of meeting the minimum wage would be solved by simply eliminating tipping. (“L.A. restaurants push for tips to count toward minimum wage,” April 19)

My father tipped according to service, not based on a certain percentage of the cost of his food, a practice that he deemed unfair to the coffeehouse waitress who worked just as hard and walked as many miles with a cup of coffee and a sandwich as another serving a steak dinner.

Raise the price of food by 15%, pay the minimum wage and make everybody happy.

Gail Chambers, Whittier

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To the editor: Mayor Eric Garcetti, who wants to raise Los Angeles’ minimum wage, is quoted as saying in support of counting tips toward pay, “For folks from one particular industry who are already earning much more than the minimum wage, for them to get two to three bucks more ... doesn’t seem logical.”

Why the sudden jolt of enlightenment, Mr. Mayor?

When Garcetti was advocating for a robust minimum wage hike, he said that putting additional money into the pockets of working men and women was good for the economy. The implication was that the money going into those pockets had no costs associated with it, as if it magically fell from the heavens or could be created by the stroke of his pen.

I can only assume the good mayor has since enrolled in Economics 101. Congratulations.

John Schatz, Newport Beach

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To the editor: Having tips counted toward an employee’s minimum wage makes no sense in that whether an employee gets a tip or not, his or her salary remains the same. What would be the incentive to provide good service if ultimately all servers, good and bad, make the same wage?

On another note, tipping the employee would benefit the employer, not the employee, as it would reduce the outlay from the employer. When I get good service, I want my waiter to benefit, not the restaurant.

Ron Garber, Duarte

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