Protect My Tips
Save Our TipsCongress is considering eliminating the tip credit while raising the minimum wage to $15.
As a
You can help by sending an email to Congress stating that you are a server in NM and you want to keep your tips.
We won this fight in the NM Legislature in 2019. We can win again!
OUR MISSION
Preserve and Protect Tipping and Tip Credit in New Mexico
The Problem:
On one side there are people who want to get rid of the tip wage. They argue that it is demeaning and encourages sexual harassment.
On the other
The Reality:
Activist groups often misleadingly point to the $2.13 base wage for tipped employees such as restaurant servers, and claim that they earn less than the minimum wage. This isn’t true: Tipped employees are guaranteed to earn at least the minimum wage and typically earn much more. Census Bureau data show that the average hourly wage for a restaurant employee earning tip income is $13.08, with top earners bringing in $24 an hour or more. If the tipped minimum wage is increased, many of these jobs and restaurants will disappear.
New Mexico Servers Want to Keep Their Tips
Read Their Stories…
Jason – Tomasita’s 18 years Bar-back, Server, Bartender
“A lot of locals and a lot of tourists come here. They recognize you, they love the food, they love the service, and they love the atmosphere. Management's great, so it's a good place to work. The way you earn your income is by tips, you know? You're friendly to...
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Tiffany – Joe’s Dining Cafe Santa Fe Server for 13 years
My name's Tiffany Garcia. I've been serving for about 13 years. I consider serving to be my professional career, and I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm working at Joe's Dining in Santa Fe. I would say mostly I love meeting new people, working with people, all...
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Brenda – Atrisco Cafe Santa Fe Server for 15 years
Mi nombre es Brenda. Trabajo en la industria del restaurant desde el 2003. Soy de México, pero radico aquí en Santa Fe. Son ya más de 15 años que trabajo con la familia Country. Empecé en el Tomasita’s y ahora estoy en el Atrisco. Por empezar, soy madre soltera, tengo...
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Cindy – Tomasita’s Restaurant Santa Fe Server for 14 years
Mi nombre es Cindy, trabajo en Tomasita's. Vivo aquí en Santa Fe. Y he trabajado en Tomasita's por 14 años. Lo que mejor funciona para mí en trabajar en la industria de restaurants es la flexibilidad que tengo para ir por mi hija a la escuela, para hacer cosas que no...
read moreHear and See Their Stories…
Get Involved
Get Texts on Alerts
We will alert you by text when you need to take action. We will make these as easy and painless as possible but we can’t do it without you.
What Drives Us
Our Mission
To preserve and protect tips and tip credit in New Mexico.
We are all trying to make the point with legislators that workers who are now well-paid with strong earning potential would move to a system in which they receive an hourly wage provided by their employer. Because very few restaurants could afford to pay workers $15/hour PLUS tips, many would lay off servers or compensate by switching to a flat “service charge” that would be distributed as the employer wishes.
Find Your Local Legislator
If you sign our petition we will keep you up-to-date on which legislators to contact. While they are in their home districts you can contact them yourself. Many of these legislators are your customers. Don’t hesitate to contact them on your behalf.
Questions to Consider
How much do you earn an hour on average, including tips?
Would you prefer a higher base minimum wage of $15 if it meant giving up your tips?
Would you still keep this job if you didn’t receive tips?
Have you experienced sexual harassment from customers because you are a tipped employee?
Have you ever had a situation where your tip income is not enough to cover the minimum wage or where your employer did not make up the wage shortage?
BLOG Posts
Featured News and Updates
Denny’s servers support the tipping system
I’m a restaurant employee in a city with a $15 minimum wage; here’s how it’s hurt me
by Simone Barron | December 12, 2018 12:23 PM | Washington Examiner. Upon winning back a majority in the House of Representatives, Democratic leaders have thrown their support behind a $15 federal minimum wage. But across the country in Seattle where I work, the...
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NYC Restaurants Slash Staff over $15 Minimum Wage
Breitbart|by KATHERINE RODRIGUEZ|21 Jan 2019. New York City restaurants, feeling the pinch of trying to make ends meet, are slashing their staff after a state law that took effect at the end of 2018 is mandating restaurants with 11 or more workers to pay a $15 an hour...
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Servers do not want a tipped minimum wage increase
By Joshua Chaisson - Santa Fe New Mexican - January 14, 2019. Before new New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham even gave her inaugural address, Democrats in the state House prefiled two bills that would increase the state’s minimum wage. While there will be much...
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Opposition from DC Mayor and Council on Ballot Measure to End Tipped Wage
Key points: hundreds of servers rallied in opposition, majority of the 13 member city council opposed the initiative. Key quote from Democratic Mayor Bowser: “If people vote for it (the initiative), they will be voting for decreasing the pay of the thousands of...
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Hollywood Told to Shove it By Restaurant Workers
Sarah Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and more than a dozen other A-listers were told to shove it by 500 restaurant workers in New York who signed an open letter to the actresses. The missive is a response to a letter that the Hollywood elites sent...
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Help Servers Keep Their Tips
Help Servers Keep Their Tips Activist groups often misleadingly point to the $2.13 base wage for tipped employee wages, and claim that they earn less than the minimum wage. This isn’t true: Tipped employees are guaranteed to earn at least the minimum wage and...
read more