Actress and activist Jane Fonda shows a flyer that says “Don’t Let Trump Steal Worker’s Tip” at ROC United economic inequality discussion in ROOSEVELT HOUSE in Manhattan. (GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
BY KERRY BURKE & GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Nearly 40 years after she appeared in “9 to 5,” actress and activist Jane Fonda says women are working harder than ever — particularly those in the restaurant industry.
Fonda appeared in New York last week to show her support for the “One Fair Wage” initiative created by an organization known as ROC United, which grew out of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11.
It began as a restaurant opportunity center for the 250 workers who lost their jobs when the Twin Towers collapsed — as well as a place to remember the 79 restaurant workers who died in Windows on the World, an eatery on the 107th floor of 1 WTC.
But it became much more in the months that followed, said co-founder Saru Jayaraman, when thousands of restaurant workers lost their jobs in lower Manhattan.
“What started as a little relief center has turned into a national organization,” said Jayaraman last week, as she and Fonda met with politicians in New York last week to discuss the “One Fair Wage” campaign.
“In 43 states, the restaurant industry gets away with not paying many of those who work in restaurants at least the minimum wage,” Jayaraman said.
Fonda said the industry was profiting off the vulnerability and exploitation of low-income women at the event. (GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Restaurant service staff who earn tips can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour, which has been the federal tipped wage since 1991, she added. In New York, the tipped minimum wage is $7.50.
While the law says an employer is required to “top off” the pay of an employee whose tips and salary don’t add up to the full minimum wage, there’s little enforcement, she added.
Jayaraman put much of the blame on the National Restaurant Association.
“The NRA tells workers that they don’t want to get higher wages, because then their tips will go away,” she said. “That’s just not true. In seven states, ROC has been able to make changes so that workers get the minimum wage and get tips, and it works better for everyone.”
The restaurant industry includes 7 of the 10 lowest paying jobs in the country, ROC United said.
People who work in the industry are twice as likely to need food stamps than the rest of the U.S. workforce, and three times as likely to live in poverty, the organization said.
Fonda also mentioned that “when you feed your family off your tips … you’ll wear that low-cut blouse and you won’t say anything when they grope you, because you can’t.” (GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
And women make up 70% of the 11 million industry workers, according to ROC United.
Fonda, 79, said the industry was profiting off the vulnerability and exploitation of low-income women.
“I’m a real believer in what ROC is doing,” said the actress. “When you feed your family off your tips, and that’s all you have, then yes you wear that short skirt, you’ll wear that low-cut blouse and you won’t say anything when they grope you, because you can’t,” Fonda said.
She called for a grassroots type of outreach to spread the word on the need to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers — whose hourly pay is often reduced to zero after taxes.
The actress also called for a grassroots type of outreach to spread the word on the need to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers — whose hourly pay is often reduced to zero after taxes. (GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
“Everything good in this country has come from struggle … and everything good has come from organizing. You go into neighborhoods and you knock on doors and you speak to people, and more important, you listen to people,” Fonda said.
“A lot of people think it doesn’t matter who they vote for, things are never going to change. We have to prove them wrong,” she added.
The National Restaurant Association didn’t return an email requesting comment.
