Across the country, restaurant workers are refusing to work for poverty wages. Over a million workers have already left the industry due to low wages and tips. Of those who remain, 54% say they're leaving, and 80% say they won't come back without a full, livable wage with tips on top. In response, thousands of small and medium-sized restaurants are raising wages to recruit staff. But Darden, which leads the National Restaurant Association, not only refuses to genuinely raise its wages, but is also lobbying to keep the minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers at $2.13 at the federal level. As long as they lobby against wages going up, and refuse to pay their own workers, no one should apply. We should all be getting a fair, regular, hourly wage plus tips on top! Darden makes so much money off of worker backs, and we are tired of it. The company AND the workers can all flourish together. The company can be successful AND it can pay workers fair wages. In CA, OR, WA, AK, MN, MT, Darden Restaurants are already paying workers a fair wage PLUS tips (because they are mandated to, by law), and they are still making bank! There’s no reason that Darden can’t do this in all 50 states! In many US states, they are paying workers $2.15 + tips and this has got to stop. Darden CEO Gene Lee said, “Now there may not be enough service workers on the staff of every restaurant in America, but there’s enough service workers out there to staff Darden’s restaurants.” NO THERE AREN’T! PAY US FAIRLY OR WE WON'T APPLY TO YOUR RESTAURANTS!

The same job class should be paid equally for performing the exact same job! It shouldn’t matter if you are PT or FT. It is especially difficult if you are a single parent or sole income earner.

Sam's Club and Walmart must stop all of the discrimination against employees with disabilities and elderly employees. We desperately need workers rights. Many Associates are afraid to speak up against Walmart and Sam club's harassments towards them, especially seniors. Stop Walmart from pitting associates against each other. I would like Sam's Club/Walmart to change for the better. I also would like union representation if associates chose to.

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“We all have the same goal and this is for the cruelty and injustices that Topgolf is full of to end! I can't change what has happened to anyone although I wish I could but I sure can hope for change for future employees.” - Brittany, worker @ TopGolf TopGolf had over 12 legal cases against it from 2020-2021, made by workers who have suffered abuses from the company. TopGolf is a restaurant and golf entertainment chain that exemplifies both the toxic misogyny pervasive in the restaurant industry and restaurant chains’ resistance to change. This type of behavior needs to stop! TopGolf workers deserve to work in a safe space, free of sexual harassment, free of sexual assault, free of discrimination, and free of wage theft. Support current and former TG employees who are coming together to organize for real structural changes. Let’s hold TopGolf accountable to their workers!

New York is the most expensive state to live in, yet, restaurant tipped workers are earning $10/hr. We can’t survive on anything less than 100% of the wage-- we need $15 with tips on top. Governor Hochul has the power to help! Avoid the nightmare before Christmas, and sign the executive action to pay restaurant workers fair wages! This Christmas and Christmas Eve, many of us in the industry are refusing to work for subminimum wages. Many of us will be calling out, walking out, and/or taking a sick-out day. We want to stay warm with our loved ones because we cannot continue to put our families and ourselves in harm's way for these substandard wages. I am signing this petition because this Christmas & Christmas Eve, I refuse to work for subminimum wages, and will stand in solidarity with other restaurant workers who are fighting for the dignity of a fair wage this holiday season and beyond! We are willing to work, but need fair wages. Cheers to you, fellow bartenders, servers, barbacks, food runners, bussers, hosts and more! We deserve more. [OFW was asked to set this petition up on behalf of various restaurant workers planning this action, and is supporting this holiday season.]

We believe that those of us on the frontline of the Cheesecake Factory have not been treated fairly or compensated adequately. While the company has come through the pandemic with record profits, we have not seen the gains that our labor produced nor been adequately protected from the risks we are taking on by working directly with the public each day.

The expectations and standards employees are required to meet make working at Starbucks one of the most mentally and physically taxing retail work environments. It is not a stretch to assert that Starbucks is the hardest I’ve ever worked, while simultaneously being the least I’ve ever been paid. That disparity cannot continue to exist. In order to rectify this issue, Starbucks must implement a shift differential for their morning and weekend shifts to fairly compensate their staff.

Most of us need a second job to make ends meet, many of us are stressed about neverending lines ( one recent Sunday two cashier's called in sick and no replacements were called leaving two cashiers to handle lines halfway down the store), and noone can live on $12/hr.

The issue of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior at Chili's is unacceptable, but it's also reflective of the entire restaurant industry, as a whole. We need to make a change for all future restaurant workers because no one should have to endure exploitation, sexual harassment, or bullying in the workplace.

Everyone deserves to be able to pay the rent without relying on the generosity of others to eat, and should not have to ration their food from week to week because of an unpredictable and fluctuating schedule. One green vest I know was forced to live out of their car in the REI parking lot after losing their apartment while their manager turned a blind eye and the store refused to raise wages above starvation wages.

The only way our working conditions and wages will improve is if we all band together to tell our employers that they are not entitled to our labor until they treat us all much more fairly. Our current wages are barely enough to scrape by when considering that after taxes, there's still a struggle to cover rent, bills, groceries, vehicle maintenance, pets and any unexpected injuries or accidents. Our current working conditions are hostile almost daily, typically in the form of coworkers having disagreements and getting into screaming / yelling matches (often in front of donors and / or customers) that go largely unresolved by management; these disagreements also commonly end in "behind each other's backs" comments that often lead to further disagreements that, again, end in one of these two ways. When asked to help resolve many of these issues, management has commonly responded with some remark about or similar to being "unable" to do anything about it.