There’s perhaps no group more important for the parties to win over on the issue in Nevada than Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents the state’s hospitality workers. But in the union’s eyes, both sides are flailing.
In late October, the union sent a letter to Treasury and the IRS rebuking the limitations of the tax cut in the GOP megabill and asking for the same things Democrats have pushed for: a permanent extension of the tip tax deduction that would also cover automatic gratuities and eliminate the subminimum wage. Neither the agencies nor congressional Republicans have indicated they’re willing to offer concessions since then, to the union’s frustration, said Ted Pappageorge, its secretary-treasurer.
But that shouldn’t serve as a reprieve for House Democrats, even if they earned the union’s endorsement last year, he continued.
“There has to be a real fight with the Democratic Party about a message that is very clear that we are going to tackle the cost of living and support working class, kitchen table voters,” Pappageorge said. “We’ve been very clear, we’re going to talk to Republicans, Democrats and independents, and we’re going to run our own members because we don’t see Democrats focusing on working class issues in a way that is going to win in the midterms.”