The group behind Michigan’s minimum wage law is urging state lawmakers to let planned increases go through next year without any interference.
Near the top of concerns for advocates is protecting a phased in wage hike that would lead to them getting the same minimum wage as nearly everyone else in 2030.
Currently, the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers is a fraction of the regular amount. Businesses are supposed to make up the difference if tips don’t.
But Sam Taub, with the One Fair Wage campaign, said relying mainly on tips has created uncertainty.
“It makes it hard to live a life that you feel is fulfilling when you have no idea what your next paycheck is going to look like and when that next paycheck is almost entirely dependent on a complete stranger deciding that you are worthy of that 20% tip,” Taub said during a press conference Wednesday morning in Detroit.
One Fair Wage plans to send an open letter to every state lawmaker outlining its case.
It’s facing stiff opposition, however, from service industry groups claiming the minimum wage increase would be catastrophic for restaurants and bars and lead to higher menu prices.
Save MI Tips spokesperson John Sellek argues servers prefer the old system, since tips could potentially lead to higher paydays.
“They've worked in other places where they made minimum wage or perhaps if the, the market would afford it, pay them a couple of dollars an hour or more or 15 or 16, $17 an hour. They can't live on that,” Sellek said.
Sellek has brought servers and bartenders to the state Capitol to plead their case with state lawmakers. He said it’s working.
“We think that our workers are being heard. So, we're really excited about the possibility of getting this thing fixed. But if it's not fixed by December 31st, we know that a new legislature comes in within another week after that, and the urgency will be there and be ratcheted up even more for them to look at this closely,” Sellek said.
Some see the upcoming end of this year’s state legislative session as a ticking clock for lawmakers to adjust the minimum wage law and restore the tipped credit.
But changing it has been a touchy subject among Democrats, who currently control both chambers of the state Legislature and the governor’s office.
The minimum wage hike is only taking place as it is because Republicans deployed a tactic known as “adopt and amend” in 2018 to enact what was then a minimum wage ballot initiative into law before it could go before voters. Lawmakers subsequently watered down that law before it took effect.
That policy of adopt and amend was just struck down in the state Supreme Court this year, leading to the new schedule for wage increases. Another policy guaranteeing sick leave also was restored to its original intent.
State Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) said she wants to see how things go first under the new system before making any tweaks “later down the line.”
“We know that there are many inequities that happen because of the shifts (in) minimum wage that exist right now, the sub minimum wage. And we know that with that comes issues of harassment sometimes for workers as well as other problems. And so we need to make sure that we're sort of leveling the playing field and making sure that everyone has the same minimum wage and that we're raising that wage,” Chang told reporters.
Starting next year, Democrats will no longer control the Michigan House of Representatives. That could add another layer for anyone hoping to see action in either direction on the matter, as it could become a bargaining chip for other policies within divided government.
