Massachusetts voters will determine Nov. 5 if tipped employees should have the same or lower minimum wage than the state’s standard minimum wage.
Currently, tipped employees have a lower minimum wage, $6.75 compared to the normal $15 an hour. Voting “yes” on Ballot Question 5 would gradually increase the tipped minimum wage to $15 between 2025 and 2029. Tipping would not become illegal; any tips made in 2029 would be on top of the increased wages.
Once at $15 per hour, employers could create a tip pool, whose contents could be shared amongst tipped and non-tipped workers.
On the supporting side is Frank Mozell, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Labor Center and Western Massachusetts organizer with One Fair Wage. He thinks workers deserve more for the difficult job they do.
“The tipped wage workers, they are getting subminimum pay for the amount of work [they do], especially coming from everything that happened with COVID and the state of things,” he said. “This is one tool that will help make it fair.”
He also said the current system forces consumers to subsidize the wages of tipped workers, so that they reach the standard $15 minimum wage. No other industry does that, he said. This is especially a problem when everyone’s wages are not keeping up with Western Massachusetts’ cost of living.
“If everything is based on the kind heartedness of a total stranger for you to receive your tips, that’s a lot of risk,” he said.
Besides workers and consumers, it’ll also be fairer to business owners because it will increase staff retention, saving them the headache and wallet-ache of having to hire and onboard new staff.
Some Western Massachusetts restaurant owners beg to differ.
“From somebody who has worked off of tips to somebody who now employs people who work off of tips, we are completely opposed to that question. It will cost jobs and restaurants,” said Tony Long, owner of Tribeca Gastro Bar & Grill in Westfield.
Long said raising the tipped minimum wage would increase Tribeca’s labor costs dramatically, as much as 15% to 25%. All restaurants operate on slim profit margins, he said; an increase like that would shut the doors on small, local independent restaurants and bars. Some restaurants may reduce their employees’ hours, increase the prices of menu items or reduce the quality of their service.
Asked if it would’ve affected Tribeca’s decision to open in Westfield, Long said, “It most certainly would’ve affected our decision to open anywhere.”
Jeremiah Micka, member of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association board of directors and owner of Union Square in Northampton, agreed, saying it would lower tipped employees’ earnings, decrease the quality of service and cause them to leave for other jobs and industries.
He said that Western Massachusetts is a small region, so, once their earnings drop, employees could easily leave for higher-paying jobs in Connecticut, New York or Vermont.
“On its face, when you say, ‘more money for employees,’ it sounds great, but when you really break this down and you get some knowledge about this bill, it’s not good for the industry and it’s not good for the employees,” he said.
By contrast, Mozell said employees will receive the increase in wages that is promised.
“What we have found is that in the states that recently passed these measures, the consumers are still tipping,” he said. “They actually get paid a little more.”
Should the question pass, Micka said Union Square might close down its 190-seat steakhouse and focus on events in its banquet hall.
“It’s not worth it to try and navigate the waters of paying everybody that kind of wage and tips,” he said.
Asked about the threat of reduced hours, fired employees or going out of business, Mozell said there was nothing stopping restaurants from doing that now, as they face the same pressures every business faces, like hiring staff, following regulations, and stocking their inventory.
“I’m not saying we’re insensitive to the question. Currently, the burden of all that is still being paid off the backs of the tipped wage workers,” he said.
Both Long and Micka said employers and employees are united against this question, with Micka saying none of his 50 to 70 employees support it. Mozell said that appears to be the case because employees are scared to support it in the face of employers who oppose it. Significantly more money is being spent on opposition rather than support, he said.
There are also 250 restaurants in the state that already pay a “fair share,” he said.
A recent poll from WBUR/CommonWealth Beacon showed 43% support among respondents for voting “yes,” 40% for voting “no” and 16% who were unsure or did not respond.
Massachusetts voters will face five total ballot questions this fall.
