LF: Is tipping racist? Shake Shack CEO says customers SHOULDN'T leave cash for waiters because it 'harks back to the American Civil War'

Title: Is tipping racist? Shake Shack CEO says customers SHOULDN'T leave cash for waiters because it 'harks back to the American Civil War'
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/f ... -NEVER-leave-tips-waiters.html
Published: Jan 19, 2017
Author: Imogen Blake
Post Date: 2017-01-19 16:05:51 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 1106
Comments: 9

Shake Shack CEO Danny Meyer has continued his crusade against America's tipping culture

The multi-millionaire owner of popular burger chain Shake Shack has said he will stop customers from tipping his staff because the practice has a 'racist' history.

Danny Meyer, revealed that tipping customers stems from the American Civil War when the government accepted a petition to allow restaurants not to pay its staff.

To get around new slavery laws, customers were advised to leave a small payment for servers so that no-one could argue that they were enslaved.

In the US, it's accepted that customers should tip up to 20 per cent for every meal - but Meyer points out that in other cultures, it's very different.

Calling tipping one of 'the biggest hoaxes ever pulled on an entire culture,' he told The Sporkful podcast: 'You don't see it in Asia, you don't see it primarily in most European countries.

'It created a completely false economy so that when you see a menu price at a restaurant, you know and I know that it includes the cost of the food, the cost of the linen, the rent, but it doesn't include the service and here's what finally moved me to my own tipping point a year ago,' he said.

Meyer said that tipping isn't fair on other restaurant employees such as pot washers and low-level chefs, whose wages are not topped up by tips.

He also said that waiting staff who aren't white tend to get less tips from customers on average.

'Tipping started in our country right after the Civil War,' said Meyer. 'The restaurant industry as well as the Pullman train car industry successfully petitioned the United States government to make a dispensation for our industries that we would not pay our servers, but it wasn't considered slavery because we would ask our customers to pay tips. And therefore no one could say they that were being enslaved.

'And, no surprise, but most of the people who were working in service professional jobs and restaurants and in Pullman train cars were African-American.'

Despite having just over 100 locations worldwide, Shake Shack is one of the most popular burger chains in the US, with a market capitalization in excess of $3.4bn as of last year.

The chain is fast becoming a hit in the UK as well with five restaurants in London and one in Cardiff.

Originally set up 12-years-ago as a summer pop-up in Manhattan's Madison Square Park, Shake Shack has grown exponentially, fueled by its no-nonsense back-to-basics burger philosophy.

So popular are the cheap $6 burgers from Shake Shack that it has created an East Coast-West Coast rivalry with Californian hipster favorite In-N-Out - with fans swearing one is superior to the other.

Indeed, so potent is the brand that is estimated that a single Shake Shack restaurant franchise is worth $50m, whereas one McDonald's joint is worth only $3m.

Owner, Danny Meyer, 58, was already one of New York's pre-eminent restaurant owners, with the Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern part of his stable.

He is estimated to be worth upwards of $350m and has taken on the issue of tipping in the United States and made it something of a crusade.

Just last week, the company announced that it was raising its prices so that it could pay its workers more.

Shake Shack spokeswoman Laura Enoch wtold Fox News, 'The moderate price increases reflect our continued commitment to lead with hospitality, pay above minimum wage, and provide our team with real career growth opportunities.'

In October of 2015, Meyer eliminated tipping at his 13 full service restaurants.

Instead of leaving cash at the end of the meal, diners are told to leave 25 per cent more for each dish, with no option to withhold their generosity if the experience is not up to scratch.

Meyer said the extra money went toward raising basic salaries for all his workers, from pot boys all the way up to chefs, and placed into a revenue share program, allowing employees to profit from the restaurant group's success.

The controversial comments come after the recent furore surrounding London resturant Le Gavroche.

It was revealed last month that the two-star Michelin restaurant keeps the discretionary service charge paid by customers as revenue.

Its chef patron, Michel Roux Jr, came under fire as many customers believed the service charge was passed on to staff.

The restaurant will now include service in the bill from the end of the month and told MailOnline that staff wages were not dependent on fluctuating service charges or tips.

IS DANNY MEYER RIGHT?

While tipping is a necessary and expected part of the service industry in the US today, Danny Meyer is right that the practice was started AFTER the Civil War by wealthy Americans.

The custom in fact originated in England in the 17th century and the word tip is thought to be an acronym for 'To Insure Promptitude'.

The process of tipping began as a means by which the wealthy could ensure faster service simply by paying for it.

In essence a socially acceptable and legal bribe.

Tipping is thought to have made its way to America following the Civil War when rich Americans began traveling to and from Europe.

These travelers brought back the European custom in an effort to appear refined and knowledgeable, but American society was initially scornful towards tipping.

They believed it to be undemocratic, un-American and signaled division between the rich and poor.

Indeed states tried passing laws against tipping, but the tide was too strong and it developed into a particularly American custom, by which businesses realized they could pass on more costs to the customer.