I'm for communities helping each other, but in your moving example you think those workers have health insurance? Why do you have to sneak the tips?
I bet the bus drivers make a good amount of money though.
When it comes to insurance, yes, that sucks, this is where we need one-payer system, which will make insurance available to everyone. Also, the current Affordable Care Act does not require a company less than 50 people to provide insurance to employees. I also do not believe half of the "professional" local contractors have more than five full-time employees if I were to bet. The ones we did hire (because we couldn't find a qualified one in our Chinese community) run the business with at most 2-3 guys, and are usually family-owned. Subcontractors are hired if the contractor is given a bigger job. You don't need twenty people to renovate a house or fix a sewage pipe. It is not economical for most contractors to have too many full time employees waiting around. The competition is huge.
Also, I think these workers aren't always underpaid. Freelancers can make good money. I don't have any evidences to prove, but if they work 5 days a week, and make $200 per job, they can make $4000 a month. See, the pair we got had two jobs in one morning, so they probably made more than $200 that day along with some tips. I am not defending underpaid, but I am sure these movers make good money in the end. Extremely hard work, but they can make good money. Walnut can't even exist if there were only a hundred jobs a day in NY. I pass by a barn truck lot everyday, and I can say with confident at least 3-4 days a week the lot is mostly empty, so there must be enough demand for a barn truck business to survive. So should the moving industry.
[0] Yes, it is extremely common for employers to pay for healthcare in full or in part (and the ACA complicates this a little), but there is no reason employers have to pay anything in order for employees to realize the tax benefit.
This is largely anecdotal, but back when I was doing landscaping over summers in high school and college (2002-2005). For some tasks (installing sod grass, for example), I'd pick up undocumented Central American day laborers^. They would not even get into my truck for less than $14 per hour plus lunch. There's fewer of these laborers around the Atlanta area these days, but from I hear, they still require well over minimum wage.
^ We did our best to avoid hiring from this pool but finding reliable day labor from any legal source was nearly impossible at any price.
That's curious, one of the advantages of Uber for me is that I don't have to speak the local language, since I can preselect the destination on the app.
Coincidentally, TAL had a story on a car service from Chinatown on a recent episode: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/622/...
For generous people like your family, you feel happy giving good workers a big tip. It's not just part of the moving cost, but a small good deed. Participating in this is something extra you get for your money. You wouldn't get the same feeling from an included tip, which you can't be sure goes straight to the worker. Presumably if the movers were lazy or rude you would also be glad that you could choose to tip less.
For cheapskates who stiff on the tip regardless of the quality of the service, tips-included just means a higher cost for them.
The contractor paid two Hispanic workers to do most of the heavy-lifting work, but we also helped anyway so we get the move done ASAP. The hardest thing to move was the heavy massage chair so we let them moved the chair. They are strong...
I don't know how much we paid the contractor in total, but I know it didn't go above 1000. We tipped the contractor and also tipped the workers separately ($150 each). We are very generous when we work with nice and hardworking people. They deserve the bonus, especially knowing the contractor wouldn't pay them a lot. So tipping to us have to be personal, and shouldn't be part of a system.
I mention this story because the hiring process may seem bizarre to the non-Chinese immigrants. Contractors (construction or moving) usually hire workers off the street. There is a place the contractors will find workers waiting to get a job. So yes, these workers are literally picked that morning like 7AM and the guy came around 11AM since the contractor had another job early that morning. The contractor might find another pair the next day.
The truth is, every community has its own way to find people to do work for them. In the Chinese immigrant community, we almost never hire an expensive professional contractor. We (at least the people I know) believe Americans charge us way more for the same, if not, less quality work. We "joke" about how schools can save so much money if they'd pay a licensed Chinese contractor.
My dad also doesn't use Uber because (1) he doesn't speak very good English, and (2) he can call a driver for $25 going to JFK with just one call (plus maybe $10, $20 tip). We can go anywhere in the tri-state area in range of $20-$75 in a comfortable SUV. The Chinese community (Korean and Spanish community also have this) also have a shuttle bus that goes from Queens<->Chinatown, Flushing<->Chinatown, Brookyln 8 ave<->Chinatown for $2-$3 dollar. You call the call center, tell the operator which shuttle stop to pick up from.
"If it ain't broken, don't change." For the same service quality, why go for something more expensive?