This is the third installment of a series about changing how we make decisions in order to solve the myriad of issues that affect our businesses and society. This week we will tackle how to turn down the noise.

By “turning down the noise,” I mean stop using powerful phrases that are intentionally undermining our chances to have good faith discussions about issues in an effective and meaningful way. It happens with such regularity that we’ve become slightly immune to it, and because of that, invested parties have amped up the language even more to ignite a reaction. To look at this we’ll examine some of the phrases each side uses around the minimum wage fight, which is back in the news with the proposed COVID relief plan.

On Feb. 5, the proponents of eliminating the tipped employee wage (and/or the tip credit provision in Maine) held a virtual event titled: Ending a Legacy of Slavery: How Biden’s Covid Relief Plan Cures the Racist Subminimum Wage. Let’s stop right there.

“Legacy of slavery” and “racist” are trigger words that could imply to some that “if you don’t agree with us, then you are OK with slavery practices and may support racist views.” That’s a heck of a starting point. There are two subtler phrases in there doing a lot of work, too. First, there is the phrase “cure” which implies there is an “illness” that needs curing. Secondly, there’s the phrase ‘subminimum wage’ which is a bit more complicated.

Subminimum wage is used to infer that employees make less than minimum wage. This is not the case. Tipped employees are guaranteed minimum wage, that’s literally what the tip credit says. The owner pays servers half of the minimum wage hourly, and if their tips don’t make up the difference, the owner makes up the difference.

However, according to Restaurant Workers of America, a grassroots employee advocacy organization with a Maine server as a founder member, “most servers and bartenders make well above the minimum wage when their tips are included.” Why? Because servers make much more in tips than they ever could with a flat wage (and only paying half the rate for owners, keeps menu prices down).

Yet, 85% of employed people get paid direct wages from their employer, which equals their take-home pay, meaning they don’t work for tips or on commission. Thus, when you infer workers are paid “sub-minimally” by their employers, to that 85% who don’t immediately think about tips, it can imply that servers are underpaid.

The National Restaurant Association reports average take home for servers is $19-$25 per hour nationwide, they are typically the best-paid people in the restaurant. In a 2018 industry survey, 1,000 employees were asked about keeping the tip system currently in place or changing how they get paid, and 97% wanted to keep it (check out upserve.com for more information). 97% is a staggering number.

The point is, focusing on the historical roots of tipping doesn’t help us in 2021 (also some say tipping goes back to the Middle Ages, check out Brief History of Tipping on tripsavvy.com). We need to evaluate if the tipping system works for tipped employees in 2021,so let’s turn down the noise, and start the conversation with why do 97% of the employees oppose the proposed change.

The same thing happens on the other side of minimum wage. Here’s a loathsome phrase: “People wanting to raise the minimum wage have never signed their name on the front of a paycheck.” The implication here is the business owner knows more about what they can afford, and the workers who’ve never been in charge of payroll, don’t know what they’re talking about. What an awful way to paint yourself as ‘us vs. them’.

The point is, focusing on the business owners experience and labeling the employees as “know nothings” doesn’t help the vast number of non-business owners understand the owners’ plight. We need to turn down the noise, and rather than insulting the business acumen of employees, have owners explain their business model and show what effects the raise would have on their budgets.

One last point on the tipped wage servers and bartenders are commission salespeople, just like realtors, car salesmen, insurance agents and financial advisors. No one is claiming it’s unfair that realtors work on commissions. People who go into these industries understand how they get paid and they sign on for it. We need to accept that not everyone wants to work 40 hours and get paid a direct wage.

If we’re going to solve any of these issues we need to be open and turn down the noise. I think if we start in that place, we may be surprised how much our perceived opponents are willing to listen and hear our concerns. Most people, believe it or not, want what is best for our communities.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.