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“No tax on tips” is an industry plant

Trump’s “populist” policy is backed by the National Restaurant Association—probably because it won’t stop establishments from paying servers below the minimum wage.

Meschelle Hornstein, a waitress at a restaurant in the Phoenix airport and a member of the trade union Unite Here, said that the measure “would harm the working-class people that make up the majority of tip positions.” Her testimony didn’t persuade the Republicans on the committee. In a recent book, “ One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America,” Jayaraman cites a study revealing that, in New York, Black women at dining establishments earn eight dollars an hour less than their white male peers, in part because customers tip them less. Sean Kennedy, of the N.R.A., told me that his group has no financial ties to the Restaurant Workers of America, though he acknowledged that the organizations have had “intel-sharing conversations.” In recent years, Chaisson appears to be keeping a lower profile—he didn’t respond to a request for an interview—but he’s continued to push for maintaining the tip-credit system.

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