There are only unions for servers/bartenders in California and Nevada, which is why those are the only two states where those employees make $5.15. The servers
could unionize in those two states because they completely depend on the tourist industry. (Actually, Hawaii may have a servers union too. I'm not sure.) Servers and bartenders are absolutely essential to the economies of those states, and that gave them enough clout to unionize and force a higher wage.
That wouldn't work anywhere else in the US. If you threatened a strike, there are five single mothers waiting to take your job. And even if no "scab" took the position, the employer could afford to shut down for a week or two until he found people who
were willing to cross picket lines. If you shut down for two weeks in Las Vegas, you might as not bother trying to re-open.
Finally, I want to point out that I was actually
praising SerialFreak for taking the time to investigate tipping in the USA before he came here. My "abhorrence" is only directed at those who are fully aware of the 15-20% standard and refuse to abide by it anyway. It just so happens that in my 25 years or so in the business, I have found the Dutch and the Germans to be the most frequent abusers of the system.
