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At minimum, they're upset Photo by Andy Atkinson Sheila Fleming serves customers at the Riverside Cafe in Medford Wednesday. Fleming doesn't support a proposal in the Legislature to revise the minimum-wage law. Lowest-wage workers don't like changes backed by House panel By PETER WONG and ALEX BREITLER Sheila Fleming greets her customers with upbeat spirits and an occasional "honey." Lots of smiles are the norm. But the waitress isn't smiling about a bill before the state Legislature that could make it tougher for her to make enough money to survive. "I think it sucks," Fleming said. "This used to be a good living, and then the government got involved." The measure, approved by the House House Business and Consumer Affairs Committee Wednesday, would make tipped workers exempt from future minimum wage increases if their tips and wages combined equal at least $10 per hour. It would also, among other things, require that tipped workers hired after Jan. 1, 2000, be paid $5.50 per hour if they make another $4.50 per hour in tips. Fleming, a waitress at the Riverside Cafe in Medford, would be affected by the bill since she's paid $6.50 per hour -- minimum wage -- and snags between $5 and $6 an hour on the average in tips. That's bad news for Fleming, who is trying to help pay her daughter's way through college and complains of poor benefits. But it's not a big surprise, either. In her 22 years as a waitress, Fleming, a Trail resident, said she's seen conditions go downhill. "I've seen a lot of changes," she said. "We used to make good money, but now we can't." Democrats on the Business and Consumer Affairs Committee also opposed the measure on grounds that it usurps the will of voters who decided in 1996 to gave a pay raise to some of Oregon's lowest-paid workers. "No matter how you dress up a pig, it's still a pig," said Rep. Dan Gardner, D-Portland, after the committee added amendments to HB2793. But Republicans said the wage increase, approved by voters in 1996, has been a hardship on restaurants and other businesses that operate on slim profit margins. The measure now goes to the full House for debate. Rep. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville, was on the prevailing side of Wednesday's 4-3 vote. He supports the bill's "tip credit," which allows employers credit a portion of tips against the minimum wage they pay workers. "This is an uncomfortable bill, but I think the (tip) credit has merit," he said. He also has reservations about another part of the measure, regarding the length of the training wage that businesses are allowed to pay workers under age 18 for their first 60 days. \"Let me tell you, I'm not going to keep someone on the payroll for 60 days to see if they can figure it out or not. I think 60 days is too long a period, but I will vote yes." The bill would permit employers to pay workers 50 cents an hour less than the $6.50 minimum for 60 days as a so-called training wage for employees under 18. Oregon's minimum wage, approved by voters as an initiative measure, is the highest state minimum in the nation. A measure to carve exemptions in the law lost on a tie vote in the House in the 1997 Legislature. Lon Holston, a lobbyist for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers as well as Atkinson's 1998 Democratic opponent, called the bill "a wolf in sheep's clothing. These amendments can't make this bill better, especially for single parents and other workers who struggle to make ends meet." Betty Dodge, a waitress at Witham's Truck Stop in Medford, agreed with Fleming's sentiments. She predicted that many restaurant workers will have problems with the new requirements. "I would lose a lot of money," she said. "I just don't feel it's fair." To Fleming, there's not much more to say about the matter. "At least, nothing you could print," she added. (The Associated Press contributed to this story) Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA