For many advocates, Trump’s deafness to the pleas of industry workers during his presidency did not go unnoticed. “I was a tip earner. My parents were tip earners. We’ve been in this thing for 30 years fighting on this,” says Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Las Vegas Culinary Union, which represents one of the largest concentrations of service workers in the country. “Trump’s been missing in action on all of this. As a president, he did nothing about this, and when he wasn’t president — the last four years — nothing. So when politicians started throwing around promises out here in Vegas, out here at Sunset Park, our members are pretty skeptical.”
Pappageorge adds that the Las Vegas Culinary Union is supportive of the legislation proposed by Sen. Cruz as a “starting point” for larger reforms around service industry compensation: “Whether it’s Democratic administrations or Republican administrations, they’ve really not reached out to tip workers in this way. So we think it’s great that Republicans are running with this in some sort of fashion. Is it more than just a talking point? Let’s see. I would challenge Republicans to do something and make it happen.”