By Malik Thompson, on January 23rd, 2019 
The current minimum wage for most hourly workers in the District of Columbia is $13.25, which is set to increase to $15 come 2020. Tipped workers, however, receive a fraction of that amount per hour. As of July 1, 2018, tipped workers (which can include servers, valets, and bartenders) receive $3.89 per hour, with an anticipated increase to $5.00 by 2020. The justification for this low hourly wage is the understanding that, in the case that an employee is unable to meet DC’s minimum wage with their tips, the employer will cover the difference. Therefore, a tipped worker who is unable to make $13.25 per hour in tips will have their wage supplemented by their employer under the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2016. However, restaurants in the DC area have been under fire for charges of wage theft, putting into question workers’ lived experience of this law.
Research done by the United States Department of Labor reveals that, nationally, the US food service industry has had higher rates of wage violation than any other low wage industry since 2008. In fiscal year 2018 alone, over 41,000 food service workers reported nearly $43 million in thefted wages. Research done in 2011 by the Washington, DC chapter of the Restaurant Opportunities Center (also known as ROC), a non-profit based in Manhattan whose stated mission is to “improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s restaurant workforce.”, gives us a local perspective on wage violations in the restaurant industry. Following a year’s worth of research, ROC’s DC chapter released a 76 page report on DC’s restaurant industry. Table 7 (which can be found on page 25) of the report reveals that 33.5% of restaurant workers in DC report having experienced overtime wage violations and 11.4% report having experienced minimum wage violations. As further detailed in ROC’s report:
11.4% of the workers spoken with reported earning less than $8.25 per hour, which violated DC’s 2011 minimum wage laws Only 18.5% of tipped workers were able to correctly recall the correct minimum wage and only 9.7% knew the amount of the tipped minimum wage, even though it is the employer’s responsibility to post bilingual signs in the workplace detailing this information
A briefer report published by the Economic Policy Institute further reveals that:
Tipped workers in DC are largely people of color (70% of the tipped workforce while only 55% of the general workforce) The median annual wage for servers and bartenders in DC is $22,763. 13.7% of tipped workers live below the poverty line
Of course, given the unsavory conditions tipped workers were experiencing in the restaurant industry, movement to make change was inevitable. In the spring of 2018, a campaign promoting Initiative 77 began. Initiative 77 was a ballot initiative (meaning that an adequate number of registered voters signed a petition to get a statute or amendment voted on publicly) that would rework DC’s minimum wage laws for tipped workers. Under Initiative 77, the tipped minimum wage would increase each year so that, by 2026, tipped workers would be making $15 an hour, the same as other workers in DC receiving an hourly wage. It seems that, in the frenzied coverage of the Initiative, many people assumed that tipped workers would begin receiving the minimum wage immediately, not understanding that employers would have 8 years to pay their employees the eventual $15 minimum wage.
The Washington, DC chapter of ROC became the primary driving force in support of Initiative 77 in DC. Faced with opposition from, both, restaurant owners and tipped workers themselves, Initiative 77 became one of the most discussed and controversial political topics in DC during the 2018 local election season. The proposal of Initiative 77 left the city cleaved into two camps; those in support of the initiative and those against it. A cursory glance through a DC area resident’s Facebook or Twitter feed from that period of time would very likely contain at least one charged debate over the initiative. Alongside the business owners and tipped workers opposing Initiative 77, Mayor Muriel Bowser and various members of the DC Council publicly opposed the Initiative as well. It must be stated, however, that many of the politicians in opposition to Initiative 77 have, at various points, received money from restaurants for their campaigns. After being passed by voters by a more than 10% margin, Initiative 77 was repealed by eight members of the DC Council on Oct. 2nd, 2018.
I find myself clearly seeing . . . → Read More: Initiative 77 & The Crisis of The Tipped Minimum Wage
By Malik Thompson, on September 12th, 2018 As developers in Washington, DC continue to push residents out of their homes and develop overpriced businesses and condos, long-time residents continue to discover creative ways to prevent themselves from being displaced. In the video pinned below, residents of Congress Heights, a neighborhood in DC’s Southeast quadrant, who live in a building owned by developer Geoff Griffiths, march to his house in DC’s Northwest quadrant in protest of his refusal to maintain the apartment complexes he operates. With the help of community activists and a non-profit developer, the tenants intend to purchase these buildings and create units of affordable housing:
Geoff Griffis, “master developer” of the Congress Heights redevelopment plan, obtains control of the Sanford Capital properties. This move is accompanied with renewed efforts to manipulate tenants into giving up their rights to purchase the building under TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act). Some residents are bought out of their apartments for as little as $500. In response to these developments, tenants organize to establish the Alabama Ave./13th Street Tenant Coalition, their ultimate goal being the creation of 200 units of quality, affordable housing via their TOPA rights. On December 27, 2017, Griffis enacts a back door land transfer with Sanford Capitol to acquire the Congress Heights properties, which is very likely an illegal action. On February 10th, 2018, tenants marched down to Grifis’ house in Cleveland Park to protest their abhorrent living conditions. On February 16th, 2018, Judge Mott of the DC Superior Court authorized a $50,000 payment to the receiver of the Congress Heights properties. This money had been authorized in the short-term to address the immediate property issues, however, this money is not capable of acting as a long-term solution to the apartment’s conditions.
If you’re interested in supporting the Alabama Ave./13th Street Tenant Coalition in their efforts, use this link to send a letter in support of the coalition to DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser.
By Grassroots DC, on December 2nd, 2017 
The Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2017 is currently under DC Council review. After mulling over the latest amendments they will vote on it again December 5, 2017. Before that happens, we’d like Grassroots DC readers to have some basic information about this bill so we’ve cross-posted the following from the Fair Budget Coalition, which describes what happened during the debate of proposed changes to the bill on November 7, 2017. . . . → Read More: What You Don’t Know About the Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2017
By Liane Scott, on June 7th, 2016 
The Public Housing Operating Fund—the main source of revenue for public housing maintenance and repairs–pays for only 86% of the items in HUD’s budget. It looks as though the D.C. City Council may at long last be trying to make up the difference with the Public Housing Rehabilitation Amendment Act of 2016. The problem that those who advocate on behalf of public housing have with the bill is that it won’t pay for maintenance if the housing is slated for redevelopment. So if you live in Barry Farm, Kenilworth Courts, Park Morton, Highland Dwellings or Lincoln Heights–all properties scheduled for eventual redevelopment–you’re out of luck. . . . → Read More: Proposed Bill to Fund DC Public Housing Repairs Raises Concerns
By Grassroots DC, on March 16th, 2015 
Cross-posted from The District Dime Written by Wes Rivers
Sharply rising rents in the District have led to the virtual disappearance of low-cost private housing across the city, according to a new analysis by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. Yet the District’s economy has left nearly half of its residents with stagnant incomes. As a result, a growing number of residents are forced to spend the majority of their income on rent and utilities, struggling each month to maintain stable housing and afford other necessities like food and transportation.
The new DCFPI report, Going, Going, Gone: DC’s Vanishing Affordable Housing, highlights the urgency of finding solutions to the District’s housing crisis. The Mayor and DC Council need to greatly increase investments to preserve the affordable apartments we have and to add new affordable housing to maintain the city’s economic vitality.
The number of low-cost apartments dropped nearly in half. The number of apartments with monthly rent and utilities below $800 fell from 58,000 in 2002 to only 33,000 in 2013, according to the report’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. It now appears the private market has very few, if any, low-cost units. The number of apartments with monthly costs below $800 roughly matches the number of federally and locally subsidized housing units. This suggests that subsidized housing is now virtually the only source of inexpensive apartments.
Rents have risen rapidly for virtually all residents. The impact has been greatest on low-income households who have not benefited from DC’s recent economic growth. Increasingly, moderate-income households also struggle to afford rent and utilities.
Two-thirds of low-income households – with incomes under $32,000 for a family of four – spend more than half their income on housing. Even renters with incomes up to $54,000 are struggling, as one in three of these households pays the majority of its income towards rent.
The lack of affordable housing affects the ability of residents to thrive and the city to remain economically strong. Families that spend the majority of their limited budget on housing costs are forced to cut other necessities like food, health care, and transportation. The high cost of housing leads families to live in substandard housing, with problems like mold or rodents, and forces many to move frequently. Unstable and unhealthy housing puts stress on families that makes it hard for children to focus at school and for parents to keep a job, and leaves many at risk of homelessness.
The District’s leaders need to actively pursue policies that keep the few affordable apartments that remain available, while also adding to the supply of low-cost rental options. This includes funding important programs like the city’s local rent supplement program and the Housing Production Trust Fund. This could also mean strengthening Inclusionary Zoning rules so that new housing developments include more affordable options for low- and moderate-income residents.
To read the full report, click here.
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