Activists and food servers who would be affected by a bill in the Florida Legislature that would reduce the minimum wage for servers from $4.65 an hour to $2.13 protested against the proposed bill on Friday afternoon in Temple Terrace. They gathered outside an Outback Steakhouse restaurant, a chain which stands to save millions of dollars in employee wages if the bill becomes law.
The bill is the brainchild of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, who have been urging restaurant owners to fill and sign letters that have been produced on their website. The industry says the bill will help struggling restaurant owners stay solvent because of increased food costs, unemployment tax hikes, and minimum wage laws, and restaurant workers.
The Restaurant Association says the new law would provide a guarantee of higher, stable wages to many of their tipped workforce. But opponents say the bill lowers the minimum wage for such workers not seen since the glory days of Miami Vice and Dynasty were dominating the Nielsen ratings.
This article appears in Feb 23-29, 2012.
