No. This gets me fired up. It's a brutal way of bashing waitstaff, who are hapless.

The tipping custom exists because it's a custom (inertia - in the U.S.) and is based in the philosophy that if it's separate, better service results. Win for the customer, win for the restaurant, supposedly a win for the waitstaff.

Putting the waitstaff's benefits out on the cuff is just cruel. It's in the vein of The Powers That Be in the auto industry floating the idea in the media - talk radio etc. - that $1,500 ($3,500?) of every car sold goes to employee health care. There the game and dynamics might be different -- e.g., it's part of negotiation leverage between management and the union. But college student restaurant servers?

Give.Me.A.Break.