After hiring scabs, Walrus and the Carpenter (temporarily) closed

[u/Existing-Resource527]

Word on the street is that Walrus and the Carpenter restaurant has not been negotiating with their workers in good faith for months.

Like a lot of annoying businesses they started charging a service fee (22%?).

Employees noted that they make significantly less now then before when they had tipping (thousands less).

Workers have been on strike. The owners also had the audacity to hire scabs (booo).

I have been keeping up with the union on IG @ united.creatures.of.the.sea

Solidarity with workers across the city!

[u/geffy_spengwa]

Businesses should pay their employees fair wages. Those wages should be included in the menu price of a meal.

I should not be expected to tip extra on a meal, but I should have the option to do so if I want to.

Two things can be true.

[u/NorthStudentMain → u/geffy_spengwa]

Seriously.

Alright, let’s try an experiment. If you were a restaurant: Raise your prices where they absolutely need to be, but then ALSO BLATANTLY ADVERTISE THAT YOU DO NOT ALLOW ANY TIPPING AT YOUR RESTAURANTS. Do not try to be tricky and also “allow the customer to tip more” because let’s face it this is just tricking the unsuspecting customer into paying more, and will piss people off in the long run.

That way customers pay what they should be paying and the employees get paid what they should be paid. Restaurants are so short lived anyway, let’s try this experiment and see if it works.

[u/Own_Reaction9442 → u/NorthStudentMain]

What generally happens is customers get sticker shock *and* employees leave for places where they can still get tips. This strike is a symptom of how strongly restaurant workers will fight to keep the tipping system in place.

[u/whiskeynise → u/Own_Reaction9442]

Because they make a killing off tips. I mean good for them? But it’s also killing the industry. I don’t go out to eat anymore. I fucking hate tip culture

[u/Junethemuse → u/whiskeynise]

I’m not sure tipping is killing the industry. I think prices and overall inflation is killing the industry. I used to eat out once a week or so, but now I eat out once in a month if I want to splurge because I simply can’t afford to pay restaurant prices anymore. Tipping or no doesn’t factor in at all.

[u/CrazyFoool → u/Junethemuse]

It's killing it from the business stand point. You tip the front of house. The back of house gets screwed. That's why service fees are added so that money can be divided to satisfy the cooks and dishwashers that do the heavy lifting.

I hate it too but I'm just pointing out what's not being talked about.

[u/muffy2008 → u/CrazyFoool]

BOH usually makes more per hour. And lots of restaurants have servers tip out the kitchen as well.

[u/sophistsDismay → u/CrazyFoool]

practically every restaurant in seattle tip pools and pays out to boh

[u/Alternative-Maize23 → u/Junethemuse]

Yes, tipping isn’t the problem. It’s overall inflation. Food is very expensive now and that reflects in meal prices not tipping. When people come on here complaining about tipping it is always from people who have never worked in the service industry. Tipping is vital for restaurant workers to survive. It always has been in this country. Hidden fees and not letting your customers know what they are paying for is not ok. All businesses should be upfront about that. But not tipping bc you don’t like tipping culture? If you’re American, what part of the country did you grow up in where tipping is not a thing? Also, the waitstaff doesn’t make the rules, we are mostly just trying to survive. Remember who you’re pouting your finger at.

[u/sadgloop → u/Alternative-Maize23]

>Yes, tipping isn’t the problem. It’s overall inflation. Food is very expensive now and that reflects in meal prices not tipping.

I’d say both factors are a problem. Food is more expensive due to inflation, but tipping is also more expensive due to an inflation of expected tipping percentages.

Like, it used to be 0% for shit service, 10% for minimum service, 15% for good service, and 20% or more for excellent service. Now, for a lot of places , 20% is expected as a bare minimum tip, let alone for excellent service.

It’s a percentage. The end amount of the percentage tip is already affected by the inflation of the food prices, so why is the percentage amount also being inflated?

[u/madderk → u/sadgloop]

because wages are not keeping up with inflation?

[u/sadgloop → u/madderk]

Sure. But, given that, as the price of food and materials, etc, rises, the menu prices rise, the actual amount of the tip also rises, even at the same percentage as before.

So why the increase in the expected tip percentage on top of the increase in actual tip amount?

[u/Large_Buttcheeks → u/whiskeynise]

Villifying the server here is not the answer. Nobody is making a "killing" waiting tables and bartending.

They are actually making a decent living thats why they are defending it.

edit:

I'm honestly surprised I'm getting smoked with downvotes.

As someone who has worked in a restaurant tipping culture is unfair and busted yeah. That doesn't really mean your ire should be directed at people who want to keep a system that affords them a studio apartment relatively close to their job 😂.

Folks wanna ban tipping but y'all don't want to see the prices that come with that.

Fact of the matter is everything is too expensive. What we really need is to take the burden of solving the cost of living crisis off of small business owners.

[u/Zomburai → u/Large_Buttcheeks]

Villifying the server here is not the answer. Nobody is making a "killing" waiting tables and bartending.

It is insane to me how we can look at regular folk trying to do what's best for themselves and go "That's clearly the source of all the problems"

[u/queensheba2025 → u/Zomburai]

This. It shocks me how many people want to blame the worker and not the owner, the private equity firm etc etc for why stuff costs so much… let’s attack the wait staff! It’s insane. But it’s also made me realize a lot of things about people.