Latest news with #serviceworkers
CBS News
4 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Union representing U of M service workers files strike notice
Thousands of students and employees at five University of Minnesota campuses and research facilities may have the start of their school year interrupted, as members of Teamsters Local 320 have now filed their notice of intent to strike. According to the union, which represents service workers, a strike could begin on Aug. 20 after a mandated 10-day cool-off period. A vote to authorize a strike was held in late July, and 97% of service workers at the university approved the matter. The last contract with service workers at the University of Minnesota ended on June 30. Union officials say the latest proposed contract includes a 2.5% wage increase for the first year and 1% for the following two years. The contract would be in effect for two and a half years, and union leaders add that it would not only allow the school system to pay new hires higher starting wages than current staff in the same position but also increase health care costs by 10%. Union leaders go on to claim the University isn't addressing harassment involving food service workers, adding university data shows disciplinary action against dining employees rose by 96% within two years, and women receive more than half of suspensions and terminations. Leaders add Chartwells Higher Ed. is a division of Compass Group, which has paid more than $30 million in fines and penalties since 2000, including more than $840k in penalties for employment discrimination and $9.6 million in employment-related offenses. In a statement, the university said it "has negotiated and will continue to negotiate in good faith with Teamsters 320 and made efforts to reach an agreement on an updated contract since negotiations began on March 27." "The union and broader University community are aware of the financial challenges that higher education faces in the near and long term," the school said. "The University is not immune to those challenges. The University has plans in place should a strike occur and is fully committed to minimizing any disruption this action might cause for our students, faculty, staff, and community." If workers walk off the job, enhanced strike benefits were approved by the union, including $1,000 a week, which reportedly exceeds the weekly pay of some workers across the university system. The union says it represents nearly 1,500 service workers who clean buildings, do ground maintenance, make food, provide service for dorm buildings, drive trucks, take care of animals used for research and more. In Sept. 2022, the same group announced it was going to hold a strike authorization vote, citing the university "repeatedly refused to address chronic understaffing, poverty wages, and abusive employment practices." The following month, a strike vote was authorized. Those decisions came as the union said workers dealt with understaffing and low wages, with a worker saying those reasons were behind few food options inside a residential dining hall. That same month, a three-year deal was reached to avert a strike, which included a $20/hour starting wage for all members, a provision for a minimum of 30 hours of work per week in the summer, "extended health care benefits," as well as "market adjustments and cost-of-living increases" for members' wages.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Little Rock bartender reacts to ‘no tax on tips' in ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A new federal tax break touted as a win for service workers may not be quite the windfall it first appears. As part of the recently passed 'Big Beautiful Bill,' a sweeping budget proposal championed by former President Donald Trump, Section 70201 eliminates federal income tax on tips, but only up to a point. Beginning in 2025, workers in tip-based jobs can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips from their taxable income. The deduction is set to last through the end of 2028. It applies only to cash or charged tips that are formally reported on IRS forms, such as W-2s or Form 4137. Arkansas food relief groups brace for impact after SNAP cuts in 'One Big Beautiful Bill' For Jordon O'Donald, a bartender at Brewski's in downtown Little Rock, the news sounded like a welcome break. She has worked in the industry for eight years and relies on tips to support her and her son. 'Some weeks it's $900 to $1,000, sometimes more, sometimes less,' she said. 'You really don't ever make the same money every single time.' But her excitement quickly gave way to skepticism after hearing the fine print. 'Looking at it as a whole, it's honestly not the best,' she said. 'It sounds good, but I feel like we're just going to end up paying more money at the end of the year.' O'Donald isn't alone in that concern. While the bill's headline suggests service workers will stop paying taxes on their tips, the reality is more complicated. Only the first $25,000 of qualified tips are exempt. Anything earned beyond that is still fully taxed. And there are other restrictions: The deduction phases out for single filers making over $150,000 and joint filers earning over $300,000. Self-employed individuals must show a profit to qualify. The business cannot fall under 'specified service trades' like law, accounting, consulting, or athletics. Taxpayers must include a valid Social Security Number and, if married, file a joint return. O'Donald says the cap could even discourage some workers from pushing past that $25,000 mark. 'Yes and no… because I feel like I would be striving to make under the $25,000 instead of trying to make over it,' she said. Things to know about 'no tax on tips,' Trump's tax pledge that's in the GOP budget bill The Treasury Department has been given 90 days to publish an official list of occupations that 'customarily and regularly' receive tips—something that may further limit who qualifies. Still, supporters say the measure is a step toward giving frontline service workers more breathing room in a volatile industry. But O'Donald offers a warning to anyone who's celebrating too soon. 'Yes, I feel like they would be excited,' she said. 'But like I tell everyone—read the fine print.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Wall Street Journal
06-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Promised ‘No Tax on Tips.' Then Came the Fine Print.
Many service workers are eagerly awaiting no longer paying taxes on their tips. Yet the fine print in Republicans' new law could limit savings for some waiters, bartenders and others. Among the particulars restricting the reach of the measure: Only the first $25,000 in tips are free from income taxes. Tipped workers will still face the 7.65% combined payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare. And workers won't be able to benefit if federal officials say their type of service job doesn't qualify.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In Utah, tipping fatigue has bottomed out. Is it time for an intervention?
According to study results from Lending Tree, in 2023 Americans spent $78 billion on tips at 'restaurants, bars and other places where food is consumed away from home.' In New Hampshire — the best tipping state in the country — tips accounted for 16% of the money spent on eating out, including at full-service restaurants and limited-service restaurants. Nationally, the average was 6.75%. In Utah, tips accounted for 4.09%. The lowest in the nation. And that's pretty embarrassing. Sure, these numbers may not tell the whole story, since the whole study is always difficult to encapsulate in one single study. Yes, it gets a little murky when you consider that 4.09% includes limited-service restaurants as well as full-service restaurants. Because I was never taught that we were supposed to tip cashiers and now I'm prompted to pay an extra $5-$10 anytime I buy anything. Tipping fatigue is real. I've lived it. We're all being presented with tip selection screens at the end of what feels like every single transaction. Buying a soda. Filling our cars with gas. Talking to a stranger. And there are absolutely compelling arguments to be made for eliminating tips all together and paying service workers a living wage. Because really, no one's income should be contingent on customers' generosity and or moods. But even considering the nuances, any which way you slice it, the fact remains that Utah is the stingiest state in the country when it comes to tipping. And I just can't stand for it. I feel the need to stage an intervention with my entire state. I imagine us all gathered in a giant living room somewhere. Actually, no, we're probably in a church cultural hall on metal folding chairs because that is a space that can accommodate a lot more people and at any given time there are approximately one million chairs stored under the stage of any Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse cultural hall. We're really good at setting those chairs up and taking them down so preparation and cleanup would be a breeze. If I were put in charge of leading this intervention, which I never would be because I hate confrontation, but if I were, I would look in the eyes of those among us who have been tipping 4% and tell them to imagine being a service provider for our gigantic families. The thing about Utah, notoriously, is that we have a lot of kids. Kids are so wonderful. A blessing really. But also, they're not fully formed humans yet. Instead they're on the training wheels of life, and the only way they can learn to be in society is to be in society. This discourse pops up every so often online — do babies and children belong in public life? In restaurants, on airplanes, in hotels, and so on? I'm very much on the side of yes, of course they do, because how else will they learn proper behavior in restaurants, on airplanes and in hotels? But that doesn't mean it's always a smooth learning process. In fact it's often pretty bumpy. Babies cry on airplanes and kids scream while getting their hair cut and they all leave food messes in restaurants so catastrophic that one might feel justified in calling FEMA. We once took our toddler with us to dinner with friends at an Indian restaurant. I don't know how it's possible, but by the end of the meal there was more rice on the floor than had been served to us at the table. The rice had somehow multiplied. Exponentially. And covered the ground beneath not just our table, but surrounding tables as well. I don't remember my daughter actively flinging spoonfuls of rice around the restaurant but maybe she did it when my back was turned? The staff was incredibly kind and told us not to worry when we apologized. But we were horrified and left the largest tip we'd ever left anywhere, as a way to apologize for the minor human-made disaster our offspring had caused. And I guess I just assumed that more parents had similar experiences and that would bring up our tipping average. But the numbers don't reflect that. So I would conclude the intervention by reminding everyone that no one deserves more monetary gratitude than the service workers who help our many, many children with their many, many messes, and do it with a smile.
Associated Press
05-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
AmeriCorps must restore grant funding and members to states that sued over cuts, federal judge rules
The Trump administration must restore hundreds of millions of dollars in AmeriCorps grant funding and thousands of service workers in about two dozen states, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman granted a temporary block on the agency's cancellation of grants and early discharge of corps members, but only for the states that sued the administration in April. The federal lawsuit, filed by Democratic state officials across the country, accused President Donald Trump's cost-cutting efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency of reneging on grants funded through the AmeriCorps State and National program, which was budgeted $557 million in congressionally approved funding this year. The 30-year-old agency oversees several programs that dispatch hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of people to serve in communities across the country. Boardman also said all AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps members that were discharged from their service terms early should be reinstated, if they are willing and able to return. But Boardman allowed the 30-year-old federal agency for volunteer service to proceed with its reduction in force, denying the states' request to restore the majority of staff that were put on administrative leave in April. AmeriCorps employs more than 500 full-time federal workers and has an operating budget of roughly $1 billion. The lawsuit was filed by officials in Maryland, Delaware, California, Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut, Washington, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
