Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was under fire after a tone-deaf stunt backfired Tuesday.
Ocasio-Cortez announced that she’s returning to New York City to bartend for a day — and some voters in her district are up in arms over the political stunt.
In fact, critics have pointed out that Ocasio-Cortez’ return to New York is in support of the same policy that caused 130 of Ocasio-Cortez’ former coworkers to lose their jobs last year.
The political event is being organized by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC), a non-profit that advocates for increased minimum wage for restaurant and bar employees. The exact location of the event hasn’t yet been announced.
“We’re very grateful for our partnership with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who fully understands the struggles of these workers,” ROC co-founder and president Saru Jayaraman told The New York Daily News. “As a former tipped worker, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez can shed light on the importance of One Fair Wage to lift up these workers and their families.”
Not everyone is happy about Ocasio-Cortez’ return, however.
While the New York Democrat is busy living the good life in a fancy luxury apartment in Washington, D.C., her former coworkers have been driven out of work by these very same policies.
Charles Milite, the co-founder of the Coffee Shop — where Ocasio-Cortez once worked — blamed the increased minimum wage in New York for the shutdown of his business last year.
“I know it doesn’t sound like much—$2 an hour,” Milite said last year. “But when you multiply it by 40 hours, by 130 people, it becomes a big number. It was going to increase our monthly payroll $46,000.”
The Coffee Shop had been in business for 28 years before the New York City wage hike forced its doors to close. Milite said he had to fire 130 employees in August 2018.
“It is unfortunate that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would return to New York City to advocate for a policy that’s caused so much harm to the people she used to work for,” Michael Saltsman, managing director of the Employment Policies Institute, told The Washington Free Beacon.
“Rising labor costs coupled with no tip credit has already proven devastating in the Bay Area, and massive tipped wage increases put NYC’s full-service restaurant job growth in the red. A national policy of this magnitude will only cause increased job layoffs and restaurant closures,” Saltsman said.
Her former coworkers aren’t the only ones fed-up with Ocasio-Cortez’ tone-deaf political stunts.
The far-left liberal leader’s poll numbers have plummeted since she took office. According to recent Quinnipiac findings, only 23 percent of voters have a favorable view of Ocasio-Cortez. 36 percent of American voters report a negative view of her — a stunning -13 overall approval rating.
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