Dear DC...

I fell in love with this city in part because of our restaurants, the restaurants I worked in and built community through and the restaurants I’ve dined in repeatedly or can’t wait to try for the first time! I worked in hospitality for 21 years and I come from a hospitality family. You don’t do the grueling labor and long hours of cooking, cleaning, managing, or serving food and drinks from morning to night 7-days a week if you don’t LOVE some aspect of it. 

For me, I loved meeting all kinds of people from all over the city and around the world. I loved being a positive part of someone’s day, ensuring they felt nourished, satisfied, and hopefully left with their senses delighted! 

Inde Bleu Restaurant - where I worked as a bartender for 2 years

Before this location opened in DC, I worked at the Ruth's Chris in Dupont Circle

I worked at the Chi Cha Lounge on U Street NW for a couple years

I got my first restaurant job in DC here at Mr. Henry's on Capitol Hill

I worked here at Blackbyrd, a sister restaurant to Marvin next door

I worked for a few years here at the downtown DC Rosa Mexicano. Worst place I've ever worked.

But my love is really complicated. I mean, really complicated.

On Monday July 28th at approximately 6pm at night, seven members of the D.C. Council voted to freeze the tipped minimum wage at $10 an hour until 2026 and to cap it at 75 percent of the full minimum wage AND…AND…AND that it will take until the year 2034 for them to reach 75% of the minimum wage.

Now, more than 74 percent of DC voters said “end the sub‑minimum wage” twice through public ballot initiatives, and the Council chose not to listen to the public again. This decision matters for anyone who lives, eats, or works in DC—because it shapes the lives of tens of thousands people who keep our city running and bursting with life and beauty.

I know those lives because I’ve lived them. Before I became an organizer, campaign strategist and Executive Coach, I was a host, server, bartender and manager between DC and Maryland.

The decision to slow down and freeze tipped workers wages literally triggered deep within my body, at the cellular level, the physical remembrances of all that I experienced and endured working for tips, and thus the same unapologetic fire and rage I once felt. I mean, if you follow me on IG, you can see…I was going OFF last week.

But let me tell you where my rage really comes from.

I’ve had gross old men bartenders and managers slap my butt, grope my chest, and hug me for way too long as a host and server entering the industry. Worse yet, as a young manager, some male colleagues (tipped workers) sexually assaulted me repeatedly to punish me for getting promoted before them. I’ve been screamed at by a fine dining chef for forgetting the 21st ingredient in the mole sauce; dodged glassware thrown at my head for not serving past last call; had my identity and dignity questioned because I wouldn't give a guests free drinks, and more. The memories I hold in my body, working for tips, is literally called complex PTSD.

I've also lost too many coworkers and friends from the industry to drug and alcohol abuse, several even taking their own lives because it was all too much and never enough. I myself survived temporary homelessness and hunger while working full time, and yet never having access to healthcare or a single paid sick day - but ALWAYS living with the fear of getting fired for not showing up with the perkiest of smiles no matter what was happening for real behind the scenes.

Like - self-care and healthcare are not industry standards. Most folks have to have 2-3 full or part time jobs just to barely make ends meet.  I mean - I’ve seen immigrant coworkers be straight up lied to about their paychecks and used as unpaid labor for the grimiest and hardest parts of the job - bussing, barbacking, dishwashing, and general bathroom and kitchen grease cleaning.... and not only not be compensated fairly for them time, but trapped in the same positions for years.

Those experiences taught me that it doesn’t need to be this way. The industry conditions should never have been set up like this to begin with and it is beyond sad - its disgusting - that what's really happening today with working conditions and wages in the restaurant, farmwork, and domestic work industries - are all legacies of the the United States' slave economy.

If you are unfamiliar with the history of how these classes of workers were excluded from earning a full minimum wage, check out this report by the National Employment Law Project.

And to learn more specifically about the working conditions, researched statistics, and history of the US restaurant industry, I highly recommend the following books by best-selling author, lawyer, UC Berkely Professor, and co-founder of The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and of One Fair Wage, Saru Jayaraman:

1. One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America (my dear friends and DC worker leader stories are included inside, and an 18 foot statue made in my likeness on the National Mall is on the cover.)

   
   

2. Behind the Kitchen Door (DC worker stories and photos are included throughout, including mine.)

   
   

3. Forked: A New Standard in American Dining (DC area high road employer stories and research are included).

I believe that if you’re a tipped worker of any sort - you deserve a living wage with your tips on top. I have the audacity to believe that you should be able to have 1 great job in the industry that actually pays your bills and provides you real healthcare benefits… with the tips on top.

 Actually, I believe that everyone -- no matter what or where your job is, whether it’s tipped or not -- deserves a full living wage with benefits and real healthcare. Period.

And if you're an employer who has created a profit model based on exploitation.... maybe we don't need you anymore? Maybe it's time to make room for entrepreneuers who can and will create jobs that create prosperity and nourishment for all, instead of just for themselves. I don't know, call me crazy?

So, back in 2009, I didn’t just vent about it—I organized. I co‑founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC, then led DC Jobs with Justice, and helped pass some of the strongest paid‑sick‑leave and wage‑theft prevention laws in the country between 2012 - 2016. I’ve supported almost 90 grassroots progressive Democratic candidates win or come close to winning public office to develop leaders and shake up DMV area politics-as-usual.  #TheRentIsTooDarnHigh #DumpTrumpDems

And my people have also built lasting coalitions—the DC Just Pay Coalition and the Fair Price Fair Wage Coalitions for example—to act as watchdogs and rapid‑response protectors for every worker‑rights victory won over of the past 16 years.

We even created a website - KnowYourRightsDC.org to make sure DC area workers would know their rights in laymans terms, and how to get help if they're wages are stolen in anyway. Check it out and share it with any DC workers you know.

Those coalitions mobilize volunteers and organizations, provide education, and ensure that employers and officials are held accountable. They were built because we knew corporate interests would try to roll back all of our gains. This moment is exactly why those coalitions exist.

Yes, there are people in this town who don’t particularly care for me or some of the people I work with, and others I do not always see eye to eye with. That’s okay. That's part of the human experience and I am here for all of it.

But this moment isn’t about me, or any one person, any one organization, any one strategy, or any one version of our stories. We need all of us. All of our ideas. All of our genius. All of our hope and resolve.

This is about whether we let politics as usual decide our worth, or whether we stand up for the dignity and dreams of DCs tipped workers AND hold the line on real democracy in the nation’s capitol city. All eyes are on us. Our actions and decisions matter in the District, no matter how much we each feel like it's our city and ours alone. The fact is that our city belongs to us AND to the people of this nation. What we do on on our turf resonates far beyond our beloved 68 square miles. Will we continue to lead and light the way for our people and for our country, or will we let their darkness win another day?

Breathe. 

So I as Michelle Obama once said, we grow by lifting each other up! I can only speak for myself, so that’s what I am committed to doing moving forward. I hope if you’re in this fight with me, you’ll do the same. And that includes forgiving each other and ourselves when things along the journey are messy, bumpy, scary, and tense. I want to live our fullest lives together defending our people, our city, and our democracy.

And as my business coach Rachel Rodgers teaches repeatedly, prosperity is possible when we invest in ourselves and our communities.  I believe and know that first hand as someone who went from being a broke tipped worker to a successful 6-figure generating business owner today. OK?!

The universe and the people are not on a budget - but these greedy ass corporations and scarcity minded elected officials want us to believe that there's not enough to go around for us all. Well, F THAT! Because it's a lie and always has been.

So here’s my invitation to everyone:

• To all of DC’s Restaurant workers: Join ROC DC—the organization we built to serve and support you. It’s more than a membership; it’s a community where you can learn your rights, find solidarity, and shape the future of your industry. Together,you can make sure no one has to choose between paying their bills and keeping their dignity.

  
  

• To all my DMV Area Neighbors and friends: if you’ve ever been served a meal with a smile in this city, consider becoming a monthly donor to ROC DC. Your support sustains the coalitions that protect workers, funds community education, and keeps pressure on employers and officials to follow the law. Small, consistent contributions can change lives and sustain this critically important and necessary organization.

  
  

• To Everyone who Cares about the Future of DC: My crew at One Fair Wage needs to hire field managers, canvassers and signature‑gatherers asap to restore Initiative 82 and restore worker’s raises this year and next year.  Whether you have an afternoon or a whole weekend, or some time everyday - there’s a role for you. You’ll meet your neighbors, hear their stories, gather signatures and addresses, and remind our electeds that they must respect the will and rights of the people. If you’re interested in getting involved, email mariah@onefairwage.org immediately with the email subject line: “Restore i-82 Crew”

  
  

This work has NEVER been easy. But every step forward has come from people who decided that “good enough” wasn’t good enough. I still believe in a DC where restaurant jobs pay a real wage, where workers are respected, and where our leaders listen to the people. If you believe in that vision too, join us. Let’s build it—together.

Yours truly,

Nikki M.G.