Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy. I'm Amy McPhee all the best. Let's talk about tipping. 15%, 20%, 25%, how much is enough? And why do these percentages always seem to be getting higher? If you or anyone you know has ever worked a service job at a restaurant, you probably know that by and large, these employees live on these tips.

But why is that? Why aren't these workers just paid an appropriate amount for their work?

And why do we treat service industries differently than any other form of labor? And how did our

tipping culture even get started in the first place? Today, I'm excited to dig into this history in these

questions and the fight for fair wages, figuring out how we inherited this system, what's wrong

with it, and how we can find our way out. Our guest today is an activist, an advocate, and the

founder of One Fair Wage, which is a nonprofit organization fighting for the rights of service

workers across our nation. Please welcome to the podcast, Saru Jaya Rahman. Welcome to the one fair wage, which is a nonprofit organization fighting for the rights of service workers

across our nation. Please welcome to the podcast, Saru Jaya Rahman. Welcome, Saru. Thanks for having me.

I'm so excited to hear all about this topic, which is one that is relatively new to me. And so I

do have lots of questions for you. But first, I'll just read your professional bio and then you can introduce yourself more personally. Saru Jaya Rahman is co-founder and

president of one fair wage, a national organization of nearly 300,000 restaurant and service

workers, nearly 1,000 restaurant owners, and dozens of of organizations nationwide all working together to end

sub-minimum wages in United States and raise wages and working conditions in the service sector.

Saru is also the author of the book's One Fair Wage, Forked, a New Standard for American Dining,

and Behind the Kitchen Door. So I would love to know a little bit more

about you personally. Where are you from? What are some factors that made you who you are,

and what are some things that brought you to do the work that you're doing today? Yeah, well, my

parents are immigrants from India. And although I was born in this country,

there being immigrants definitely shaped my life growing up. Also, I grew up in East L.A. in a 95%

Chicano Latino neighborhood working class, so I definitely, like, you know, the immigrant experience and then the

experience of working class, Brown and black people was definitely my creation experience,

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