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Waiters' minimum hourly wages have gone unchanged since 1991 in 13 states.

The federal sub-minimum wage has been $2.13 for 22 years, Scott Klinger,associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, writes in a recent column.

The average server earned $20,710 last year, Klinger writes, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While only 13 states use the $2.13 sub-minimum wage, there is still a discrepancy between servers' salaries and the minimum wage in most states.

Only seven states pay servers the non-tipped hourly minimum wage, according to Bloomberg.

Waiters' salaries are supposed to be supplemented by tips from customers.

Klinger notes that there is momentum in Congress to raise the sub-minimum wage to $7.07 an hour - just below the current federal minimum wage.

A major restaurant chain spoke out against Klinger's piece.

Samir Gupte, a senior vice president of culture for Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Longhorn Steakhouse,wrote an open letter refuting Klinger's argument.