This past week, I attended Women’s Day in Augusta to educate myself on the greatest issues facing Maine’s women. What I learned about the plight of food servers in our state was particularly unsettling and needs to be addressed.
Seventy-one percent of all servers are women. On top of the harassment that they have to bear to be able to receive a fair tip (an MSNBC analysis of federal data shows that the restaurant industry is the No. 1 source of sexual harassment charges by women), these women are nearly three times more likely to be paid below the poverty line than the general workforce and almost twice as likely to need food stamps.
This is a case where income inequality and gender inequality go hand in hand. There is a way to lift our mothers, daughters and sisters out of this difficult situation!
This November you can vote to raise the minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped workers. This will allow our servers the power to both confront harassment in their workplace and receive a stable, fair income to help lift them out of poverty.
I implore Mainers to stand with our women: Give them a fair wage!
Andrew Ethier
Portland
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