Michigan's Minimum Wage
“One Fair Wage” 2018 Ballot Proposal: Context and Recent History
In 2014, an organization called Raise Michigan pursued a ballot initiative to increase Michigan’s minimum wage from $7.40 per hour to $10.10 per hour over two years, while tying the wage to inflation thereafter. It also sought to eliminate the tipped minimum wage, or “tip-credit” altogether. To mitigate the increase and protect Michigan’s tip-credit provision, the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association negotiated a responsible compromise with the Michigan Legislature that capped the increase at $9.25 per hour spread out over four years, preserved the tip-credit and kept the proposal off the ballot. In complete disregard of the 2014 deal that is still unfolding, the “One Fair Wage” coalition has launched a new ballot proposal for the 2018 general election that is seeking to increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $12 per hour while eliminating the tip-credit and maintaining annual inflationary increases.
The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association opposes the One Fair Wage proposal as irresponsible, out-of-touch and exceptionally dangerous to the jobs the hospitality industry provides in the state.
Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association Talking Points
In 2014, an organization called Raise Michigan pursued a ballot initiative to increase Michigan’s minimum wage from $7.40 per hour to $10.10 per hour over two years, while tying the wage to inflation thereafter. It also sought to eliminate the tipped minimum wage, or “tip-credit” altogether. To mitigate the increase and protect Michigan’s tip-credit provision, the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association negotiated a responsible compromise with the Michigan Legislature that capped the increase at $9.25 per hour spread out over four years, preserved the tip-credit and kept the proposal off the ballot. In complete disregard of the 2014 deal that is still unfolding, the “One Fair Wage” coalition has launched a new ballot proposal for the 2018 general election that is seeking to increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $12 per hour while eliminating the tip-credit and maintaining annual inflationary increases.
The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association opposes the One Fair Wage proposal as irresponsible, out-of-touch and exceptionally dangerous to the jobs the hospitality industry provides in the state.
Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association Talking Points
- The foodservice and hospitality industry is proud of its unassailable reputation as an industry of opportunity.
- Currently, 1 in 3 Americans started their career in the foodservice industry. It is the training ground for millions of entry level workers who have built critical skills of personal responsibility, teamwork and accountability. Additionally, forty-six percent of federal minimum wage foodservice employees are teenagers, while 70 percent are under the age of 25, meaning they are often not the primary earners in their family.
- If enacted, Michigan would become the ONLY state east of the Mississippi River to eliminate the tipped minimum wage and only the 8th state nationally to do so.
- Every tipped employee across in Michigan makes at least the full minimum wage. In fact, the median hourly wage of tipped employees is $16 per hour and $22 per hour. If an employee ever receives less than the full minimum wage including tips, the employer is required by law to ensure every employee makes Michigan’s minimum wage of $9.25/hr.
- Eliminating the Tip-Credit Has Already Been Soundly Rejected by the Tipped-Employees One Fair Wage Claims to Support.
- In November 2016, a coalition like the One Fair Wage campaign was successful in increasing Maine’s minimum wage and forcing the repeal of Maine’s tipped-credit provision. Servers in Maine quickly organized to protest the elimination of the tipped minimum wage and successfully had it reinstated in June 2017.
- Seattle, WA. is a Road Map for Michigan to Understand the Dangerous Effects of an Artificially High Minimum Wage on Workforce Opportunity.
- A recent study conducted by the University of Washington revealed that the 2016 minimum wage increase in Seattle led to forty-one percent of employers reducing total employees’ hours to offset the wage increase and 24 of employers percent laid-off employees to compensate for the wage increase.
- Wage Pressures Will Not Only Force Automation, But Drive Down Job Opportunity and Increase Costs.
- In Michigan, there is a 94% “Automation Probability” for traditional foodservice employees due to the increase in labor costs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
