Does NJ need a higher minimum wage for restaurant workers?

Feb. 13--ASBURY PARK -- New Jersey lawmakers should expand the state's minimum wage to include workers in the restaurant industry who, if they are eligible for tips, make $2.13 an hour, an advocacy group said Wednesday.

Wider Opportunities for Women called for the change after releasing a study that found nine out of 10 restaurant servers at the Shore don't make enough to pay for their basic needs.

"It's a constant struggle being a restaurant worker," said Anastasia Braucht, 35, of Brick, a bartender who described the vicious cycle of low-paying seasonal jobs. She makes decent money during the summer but uses much of it to pay off bills from the winter.

Advocacy groups are trying to call attention to the plight of restaurant workers -- bartenders, wait staff, dishwashers -- who were left behind on Jan. 1, when New Jersey's minimum wage rose to $8.25 an hour from $7.25 an hour.

A trade group balked at expanding the minimum wage. Restaurants already operate on low profit margins. Hiring would slow down if their owners had to increase pay, provide health insurance and offer paid leave, one official said.

"It's just going to end up costing jobs," said Marilou Halvorsen, president of the New Jersey Restaurant Association.

The report came as lawmakers are taking action on issues that worker advocacy groups have championed. In addition to the minimum wage hike, the federal government has rolled out the Affordable Care Act to provide nearly universal health insurance, and Jersey City and Newark have passed laws to provide paid sick leave to some workers.

There were 270,200 food service workers statewide in 2010, and that number is projected to grow 0.9 percent by 2020, slightly faster than overall employment, according to the study.

The median wage in New Jersey for servers was $20,150, according to the study. By comparison, an unmarried worker with no children living in Monmouth County needs $42,672 to make ends meet.

"A job that is growing is not providing economic security for the workers and their families," said Mary Gatta, co-author of the study.

Michael L. Diamond; 732-643-4038; [email protected]

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