Subminimum Wages Were Always Deplorable. Inflation Is Making Them Worse.
Diana Ramirez, senior manager of policy and coalition at the D.C.-based National Women’s Law Center and a former ROC staffer, describes her work as taking place at the intersection of wage and gender justice. “Two-thirds of tipped workers are women, so the subminimum is a big contributor to the gender wage gap,” she tells Truthout. “States with higher minimum wages have smaller wage gaps between men and women working in the same occupations. Women of color hold the majority of these jobs, so this is also a racial justice issue. But overall, women as a group lose more than $1 million over their lifetimes. This is their retirement fund, their college fund.”