Photo: James Rojas
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Advocates for ending Massachusetts' sub-minimum wage met in the financial district in Boston Monday to discuss the plan to change the policy towards tipped workers and the challenges restaurants and employees are facing during the pandemic.
Members of the advocacy group One Fair Wage spoke to other activists, restaurant employees and workers, and state representatives about a proposed plan. The hourly wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts is $5.55 per hour and will rise to $6.75 per hour by 2023.
One Fair Wage's plan seeks to get rid of sub-minimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth workers and provide them with a $15 minimum wage. States like California and Alaska have already passed laws to get rid of sub-minimum wages.
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A bill at the Massachusetts State House, sponsored by State Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Brandy Fluker Oakley, seeks to amend the state's sub-minimum wage to allow tip workers to make around $13.95 per hour by 2028.
Rachel Miller Munzer, the owner of the restaurant Mamaleh's in Cambridge, told WBZ's James Rojas she pays her workers full minimum wage plus tips.
"It's the way of the future," she said. "You don't go into a clothing store and the owner of the clothing store isn't paying their employee $5 an hour and expecting you to pay them the rest on top."
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasWBZ) reports.
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