Since the pandemic, 1 million workers have left the restaurant industry. 80% surveyed reported they would only return if given a livable wage guaranteed by law. Currently, Michigan restaurant workers earn $3.60 an hour with tips.

Michigan One Fair Wage wants restaurant workers to earn their fair share. A new ballot initiative would set that in motion. Tipped minimum wage, or subminimum wage, impacts workers across the state predominantly in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, speaks to the racist history that put subminimum wage positions into place. “The restaurant and hospitality industry wanted the ability to hire Black people, Black women in particular, not pay them anything at all, and have them live entirely on tips.”

The bill would change the lives of restaurant workers and other subminimum wage workers across the state.