One of the first lines of the article is
Studies have shown that tipping is not an effective incentive for performance in servers
yet it then says
It also creates an environment in which people of color, young people, old people, women, and foreigners tend to get worse service than white males.
How are tips NOT an effective incentive, if they also give better tippers better service? That makes no sense. The reason behind "white males" line is because young white men generally tip better, but if tipping isn't a performance incentive, then why would white men be getting a larger share of the better attention? That is a contradictory idea.
The article addresses it, by saying exactly what I said, in a roundabout way, further down the article. If you are being paid improperly, take it up with your boss. If they won't do anything about it, report them. Just because they are breaking the law by NOT making up the difference after tips, they are doing something illegal. The argument made by the article in this regard isn't a good one.
Beyond that, the national average for wait staff is well above the federal minimum wage, and arguably I don't think it should be. Fast food workers don't get tips but they still deal with customers, in addition to cleaning up shit and barf in the bathrooms.
Even further beyond THAT, as someone who has worked multiple job that receive tips in my life, many employers don't even require you to report tips, so that average is lower than it should be. And if there were some great conspiracy by fast food management, looking at their books would be easy to see.
The section of the article you pasted in response to me is essentially just a "nuh uhn!" to that committee? Okay? If people are violating that law, report them. It gives an 84% rate, but what percent of those affected are reporting it? Close to zero? Okay?
I live in a city with a low cost of living. I know multiple servers that make 25$ an hour at their restaurant job, I'm sorry, anyone who says they only made 2.13 on their check isn't being honest, or is doing something wrong. They would have had to sign a contract to give the company all tips, and sign away their "right" to a minimum wage, which still wouldn't be legal. I worked in a restaurant, as well as had a job delivering pizzas, and my experience does not reflect the "2.13 only" bullshit either. On some nights I would work 6 hours and leave the store with 150 in tips. That would be 150 Friday, 150 Saturday, 150 Sunday, in addition to a gas stipend, and the minimum wage, in addition to free food. Most of the people I talk to about this now don't want tips to go away, they would make less money, they think. This includes someone who has worked at a "tipless" establishment.