“Of course if we crank their wages up then they lose a reason for good service.”
it’s up to the owner to fire them for non performance!
It’s like when I was hiring help and needed 3 men I would hire 5 and fire 3 at the end of the day and hire 3 and fire 2 at the end of the next day, the ones remaining got the message to produce or look for another job!
I don’t owe anyone a job, my only reason for being in business is profit and the workers are no more than production and a pay check at the end of the week.
Tips make the diner the boss as well as the owner. Which is good for the diner since often the owner and diner have opposite goals (owners want you out as fast as possible, while you probably want to hang out a while, plus many others). Because I’m probably going to tip the waiter more in that time frame than the owner will pay them guess who the waiter tends to side with. There’s a reason fastfood people don’t get tips.