the tipped wages that keep workers in certain industries especially vulnerable." In July 2019, Gillibrand signed a letter to United States Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta that advocated for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to initiate a full investigation into a complaint filed on May 20 by a group of Chicago-area employees of McDonald's, which detailed workplace violence incidents that included interactions with customers such as customers throwing hot coffee and threatening employees with firearms and more. The senators argued that McDonald's could and needed to "do more to protect its employees, but employers will not take seriously their obligations to provide a safe workplace if OSHA does not enforce workers rights to a hazard-free workplace." Fiscal issues Economy During the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, Gillibrand, then a member of the House of Representatives, voted twice against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, calling it "fundamentally flawed". However, she did vote for the auto industry bailout in December 2008. At a press conference on January 25, 2009, Gillibrand said that during her first week in the Senate, she would work to ensure that the stimulus bill included relief funds for New York State. She supported the President's recovery plan and budget, and voted for cram down to allow judges to write down mortgages of struggling homeowners. In 2009, as a senator, Gillibrand voted for the Stimulus Package. In August 2011, Gillibrand voted against raising the US debt ceiling, stating: "We could have gone further in reducing America’s debt with a sensible compromise that both cut discretionary spending and raised revenues. It is unfortunate Congress missed that opportunity". In the House, Gillibrand supported the Bush tax cuts, in 2012, Senator Gillibrand voted for extending them, but against an amendment extending them for those earning more than $200,000 or couples earning more than $250,000. In 2017, Gillibrand worked with Sen. Bernie Sanders (among others) to advance employee stock ownership plans, introducing legislation that would help workers form employee-owned businesses. In February 2019, Gillibrand was one of eight senators to sign a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice advocating for regulators to renounce a proposed $26 billion merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, writing that American enforcers have understood for the last thirty years "that fostering robust competition in telecommunications markets is the best way to provide every American with access to high-quality,