Across the state there are 122 restaurants paying their employees $15 an hour plus tips. It’s part of the One Fair Wage movement, and a West Michigan lawmaker joined one Grand Rapids eatery supporting that effort.
In Michigan, the minimum wage is $9.65 an hour. Tipped minimum wage is $3.67 an hour. For State Representative Rachel Hood, a Grand Rapids Democrat, that’s considered subminimum wage. Thursday, Hood along with other elected officials and service workers, gathered at The Mitten Brewing Company in Grand Rapids. It, and a growing number of restaurants, are paying employees $15 per hour plus tips.
“We learned from the pandemic that these folks who are the front lines are critical to our economy and they must be valued," Hood said.
Hood says this is also about making a living wage. She explains in Michigan for one adult – without children – it’s $15 an hour. For a single parent with one child living wage is $31 an hour. She supports the One Fair Wage mission moving families out of poverty and providing an opportunity for successfully raising their children. Hood says businesses extending a living wage are critical to supporting the greater community.