BALTIMORE — He loves his job as a bartender, but Marino Santoro hates the uncertainty of working for tips.
“It is really nice to not have to rely entirely on the generosity of customers to pay all of my wages,” said Santoro, “Especially now when the cost of everything has gone up, whether it’s rent groceries, utilities—-having that instability in my wages is not good.”
Santoro is one of an estimated 8,000 tipped workers in Baltimore, and now, a group of city council members are co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the two-tier wage system in the city insuring everyone would get a minimum wage or more.
“These are workers that haven’t gotten a wage increase in over a decade,” said City Councilman Jermaine Jones, “You know, the fact that someone’s wages is sustained below four dollars an hour, it’s crazy.”
A former tipped worker, Nikki Cole, says time has stood still for tipped workers.
“In 1996, that’s when I started off as a tipped restaurant worker. The wage then was $3.63,” said Cole, “Why is it still that 29 years later?”
An In Focus look at tipped wages in Maryland in comparison to other states
In the past, critics have always suggested that tipped workers were generally people in their first jobs or teenagers, but proponents of this bill say that’s simply not the truth.
“There are literally workers who are supporting themselves and their families and households with these wages,” said City Councilman John Bullock.
Supporters believe one fair wage would make up for those the push for a high minimum wage left behind.
