2014-09-19

Published in Washington Post

So the Marriott hotel chain will supply an envelope to encourage guests to tip housekeepers [“Marriott to urge guests to leave tips for housekeepers,” Capital Business, Sept. 15]. Marriott should print its yearly profit on the envelope.

Should tipping occur for required routine operations of an organization? How about hotel laundry staff, security guards, trash haulers, gardeners and gift shop employees? Shall we tip dish washers? How about teachers, stock clerks, bus drivers, police officers, truck delivery drivers and power-line repairers?

Hotels are trying to get the public to subsidize their poorly paid workers. Honest organizations should not follow the Marriott lead and instead should pay a decent wage to their workers.

Jan Polissar, Bethesda