An Italian holiday may be a priceless experience for those who have enjoyed all this country has to offer. But the summer of 2023 will go down as one of the priciest in history after a slew of price gouging scandals at cafes and restaurants that have affected foreign tourists and Italians alike.
The “they’ll just raise prices” narrative is just a scare tactic. In the end the customer is paying for it whether in tips or cost. The amount you’d have to increase price is TINY for most business cases.
Also the fact you’d never do the job for min wage is exactly the point. If enough people wouldn’t do the job for min wage, restaurants won’t be able to pay min wage. That’s what the current labour shortage is about. No company that pays their employees what they’re worth has a labour shortage. Tipping culture is spreading to many industries and this massively reduces wage pressure on employers. Wage pressure is the rising tide that lifts all boats!
What other industry is looking like it’s going to embrace tipping as a primary source for pay? Random businesses have always tried here and there with tip cups or a random line on their tablet software but I haven’t seen anyone even try to make a slippery slope argument for this.
What lifts all boats is raising minimum wage for everyone.