“Dear PoPville,
Some friends and I sort of kicked up the ruckus this week over Boundary Stone’s opposition to an increased in the tipped minimum wage. Many folks have covered it as if we think Boundary Stone treats their staff poorly and we’re out to get them, while nothing could be further from the truth. We’ve put together the below open letter:
Dear Owners and Staff of Boundary Stone:
First off, we want to thank you for being an anchor to the Bloomingdale community. Quite simply, we love what you guys are doing. As residents of Bloomingdale, Truxton Circle, Shaw, Logan Circle and other nearby neighborhoods, we have enjoyed being regular patrons of your establishment. We’ve never had a poor experience. Your food has always been tasty, your staff always friendly, your drinks always stiff. We have no reason to doubt your assertion that you pay your staff well, and yours is an example for other establishments to emulate.
We were disheartened to see your public opposition to an increase to the tipped minimum wage. We understand your employees are well taken care of. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case at all establishments. Tipped wage workers not receiving at least minimum wage is a problem that runs rampant in the service industry. Even among those who do receive the minimum wage, the average annual salary of a DC server is only $24,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is far too little to live on in a city with such a high cost of living.
Again, we understand that Boundary Stone workers are paid far better than this, but opposing an increase in the tipped minimum wage enables bad actors to treat their workers unfairly. But with multiple decades of service industry employment combined, we’re concerned. (more…)
