Gee Scott on service charges at restaurants: ‘You’re getting no tip’

KIRO Newsradio’s Gee Scott said we need to start over when it comes it tipping.

Right now, Washington state law dictates that all tips belong to employees, but which workers get the money is decided by management. Some restaurants have moved away from tipping, while others have added mandatory surcharges.

“How about a fresh start?,” said Gee on The Gee & Ursula Show.

“All businesses, sit-down restaurants, there’s no tipping,” Gee suggested. “Now food is going to have to go up 20%? So where am I going to get that extra 20% to be able to pay for the upcharge? From the 20% that I was going to tip.”

“But I do think it has gotten out of control,” Ursula said, who believes tipping should change. “And I think we need to harness it or just maybe not start with 20%.”

She believes people should be paid a living wage before the discussion even moves to tipping.

“For people who depend on the service industry and depend on the generous generosity of customers, the idea of no tipping could be problematic,” Ursula continued.

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Gee also said he has problems with the concept of automatic gratuity or a mandatory service charge. He doesn’t go back to businesses that make tipping required.

“When you put the automatic gratuity on there with me, you’re getting no tip. If I see a service fee on my bill, you’re getting no tip,” Gee said. “I don’t like you spending my money. I’m a very good tipper. I want to be clear about that. I mean, very good tipper. Let me tip. You don’t tell me what I tip.”

The crew talked about the origins of tipping and how the anti-tipping movement is starting to take place.

“Some of the vanguards of that were led here in Seattle by companies like Tom Douglas. Virtually all of the restaurants that have tried to get rid of tipping have utterly failed,” said Andrew ‘Chef’ Lanier, the show’s producer. “The whole reason why a lot of restaurants were trying to get rid of tips in the first place is not necessarily about the customers. It’s because they couldn’t keep kitchen staff, and they’re trying to pay their kitchen staff equitably. So you might have a server making $75,000 a year who’s working six hours a day, and a cook who’s making $32,000 a year who’s working eight to 10 hours a day.”

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“Where did the tipping culture come from in the United States of America, ladies and gentlemen?” Gee said. “The tipping culture came about because there were establishments that did not want to pay Black employees. So in order for the Black employees to get paid, they had to work for tips. And the reason tipping culture became a popular thing, hence the reason why it’s been problematic for business owners to pay their staff less and make us, the customers, subsidize their income. I just want to get to the point where I go, and I get my burger, and my burger is what I pay.”

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM.