Photo: Jay Willet/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) —The controversy surrounding tipping culture in America is heading to the November ballot in Massachusetts. WBZ NewsRadio’s Jay Willet sought out some of the divided opinions.
What is Question 5?
Ballot Question 5 is a proposed law asking voters to approve increasing the tipped minimum wages for servers and bartenders in the restaurant industry to the state minimum wage over a five-year period.
This ballot measure was introduced by One Fair Wage, a national labor organization fighting to change how restaurant industry workers are paid.
In Massachusetts, the tipped minimum wage is $6.25 per hour, tips usually will make up the majority of the earnings. Question 5 would increase the tipped minimum wage up to $15 per hour, the same as the regular state minimum wage.
Who is for Question 5?
One Fair Wage argues that the current tipped minimum wage system is unstable and inconsistent. Every day wages for servers and bartenders fluctuate from shift to shift.
“A lot of these people are trying to raise families with children and can barely do so especially these days when people are so stretched that they find themselves tipping less than they like to,” Steven, who supports the measure, told WBZ NewsRadio.
According to One Fair Wage, a common misconception of the measure is that diners will become less inclined to tip their servers. The organization reported that the seven states that require full minimum wage on top of tips had “higher tipping averages than states that offer subminimum wage.”
One Fair Wage also argued that because of the heavy reliance on tips, female servers have had to endure more harassment by patrons. According to a 2014 study by The Restaurant Opportunities Centers United Together, the highest rates of harassment are “being reported by women in tipped occupations in states with a $2.13 sub-minimum wage.”
Who is against Question 5?
Restaurant owners and several workers voiced their opposition to the Question 5 ballot measure. They argued that since the current system works, why even try to change it?
Tom Kershaw, owner of “Cheers” and “Hampshire House" in downtown Boston emphasized to WBZ NewsRadio that “it’s not what the industry wants [and] it’s not what the customers want.”
He added that bartenders and servers are the highest-paid employees in the restaurant industry “more so than the cooks, more so than anybody else.”
Many restaurants are still recovering from pandemic inflation, and some restaurant owners fear the measure will cost them more money to hire workers and make them raise food prices.
“I think this would kill the restaurant industry,” Lisa, a bartender, told WBZ NewsRadio.
A survey conducted by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association showed that 90 percent of tipped servers believed they would make less because diners will start to tip less—91 percent prefer the current system.
“I’ve been in this business for thirty years and I’ve made a wonderful life,” Lisa continued.
The Committee to Protect Tips, a coalition formed in opposition against the measure, hopes people vote "No" on Question 5.
What Question 5 will look like?
There are already seven states that adopted this measure: California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Arkansas, and Minnesota.
If Question 5 does pass in Massachusetts, tipped workers would see their minimum wage gradually increase over the course of the next five years.
- 2025: tipped workers will earn 64% of the state minimum wage.
- 2026: tipped workers will earn 73% of the state minimum wage.
- 2027: tipped workers will earn 82% of the state minimum wage.
- 2028: tipped workers will earn 91% of the state minimum wage.
- 2029: tipped workers will earn 100% of the state minimum wage.
WBZ's Jay Willet (@JayWilletWBZ) reports.
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