Well, as to the former...there are always going to be people who rely on jobs like this. They are either too young to have learned a trade or get an advanced education/never learn valuable skills and the latter is happening now. With the downward trend of dating a lot of these places are hurting for traffic. So, be-careful what you wish for.

Still not good enough. If they work the hours pay them a proper wage, or you do not have a business!

I don’t think there’s a single person that disagrees with your statement, but do you have a solution on how to make that happen? And should the servers be the collateral damage in the meantime? This is the system in the United States. It is ingrained and established. This will not happen by decree or revolution. The only way it actually happens is if the demand side of the economic transition demands that they pay more for their food rather than having two tips somebody out. That is the diner; the person eating out. Not the person who slaving for wages so they can survive in this world. Not the owner of the business. The change has to come from the diner. In the meantime, if the diner wants to screw over the server and use them as that collateral damage to prove a point, and that speaks so much more on humanity than it does on the economic system established in restaurants.

Who makes the bosses money? The employees. We strike in other countries to get a fair deal. I'm part of a union here in Australia and we have a decent minimum wage.

How do you say you know nothing about the restaurant business without saying you know nothing about the restaurant business? Stop sticking your nose in other people's business and do something to improve your own which hopefully you understand.

Uhhhh, many servers choose to work those jobs because we can make much more than minimum wage, if we are good at what we do. We have advanced degrees. If you could make $50/hr serving or $30/hr in your area of expertise, what would you choose? Stop trying to make rules for occupations you know nothing about.

This is every restaurant in the United States. It’s idealistic to think that everybody’s going to walk out of having a job that at least brings him enough money to possibly eat and pay their bills. It’s nice and idealistic, but this is the system that has been established for so long in the United States that it’s not going to happen by revolution. There are so many people who survive on tips without opportunity or option to walk out or have access to other jobs. It would be nice, if we started locally with having restaurants charge 20 to 30% more to pay their employees. But this is not gonna happen by an overall walk out. Once these people walk out and don’t have money they’re going to need some general assistance from their government agencies. Which you’re still going to pay for.

This is a customer problem. Because you were not going to stop dining out and the business owner knows that. They also know that to run a restaurant, particularly in the first six months to a year is to survive on slim to negative margins. They are going to use the server with the establish system to survive. This is all information we all have. These are facts that we are all aware of. How you choose to react to those facts to prove a point or to establish some sense of principal is fine. But you have to consider who’s being damaged, how and why. Consumer changes never ever ever happen because the supply side wants to do the right thing. They happen because the consumer demand change.

It is definitely an employer problem. Restaurant owners in other countries manage to pay their worker a living wage, why not in the USA? People who go out to eat, pay for their meal, why should they also pay the server's wages too? And before someone starts with "if you can't afford a 20% tip, then don't eat out" - some people don't get out very often and may have to save to be able to afford one nice night out, why should they do without just because restaurant owners are too greedy?

You think it would be better for me to get government assistance? Then YOU can pay my rent (with your tax money) instead of me working for it? Do you think that is sustainable across the industry? Think about it.

If i made $50/hr serving, how is that unethical?