CNN —
Several stars took a moment this week to focus on a cause that’s getting considerably less attention than striking actors and writers – specifically, the subpar pay and conditions facing the vast majority of US restaurant workers.
Chrissy Teigen and Jamie Lee Curtis were just two of the familiar faces on hand at a One Fair Wage event in West Hollywood on Thursday night, where they donned aprons and brandished memo pads to take patrons’ orders and serve them drinks and food at popular Mexican vegan eatery Gracias Madre.
The goal: to bring awareness to the sub-minimum wage still earned by many restaurant workers, a staggering $2.13 an hour at the federal level, allowed by law due to tips earned on top but in reality a number that keeps many restaurant workers and others well under the poverty line.
Curtis called the moment the “season of the worker,” referencing the dual Hollywood strikes, the auto workers strike as well as the plight facing minimum and sub-minimum wage workers. She called the latter group a “majority (that is) underserved, underfed, and underpaid, and it’s just time.”
Natasha Rothwell, who rose to fame thanks to her now-iconic turn as beleaguered hotel wellness worker Belinda in Season 1 of “The White Lotus,” called the $2.13 wage “disgusting.”
“I think that when you are at a restaurant, recognizing that the people that are bringing out the food, filling up your water, they’re human who have lives and needs that need to be met, and financial needs...
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