LANSING, Mich. – Some Michigan bar and restaurant workers gathered in Lansing Tuesday morning ahead of Thursday’s oral arguments at the Michigan Supreme Court involving the minimum and tipped wage.
They’re against a wage increase for tipped workers.
“We are the ones, who are in the restaurants experiencing this. I mean you know some things might sound good on paper but in reality, it’s not going to work,”
The case involves a 2018 ballot proposal that sought to raise the minimum wage and increase pay for tip workers.
The Republican-controlled legislature looked to head off the ballot proposal by adopting an amended version, which kicked off a legal battle.
Earlier this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals blocked wage increases for tipped workers.
The Michigan Supreme Court will now decide whether to overturn that ruling.
Minimum wage: How we got here and why it’s not working
Save MI Tips organized the roundtable in Lansing.
“What they are trying to get the message out to are the decision makers. The court is going to be hearing a lot of arguments on Thursday. They want their message out there for that. There are people in Lansing like the legislature who could do something to fix this crisis,” Save MI Tips Spokesperson John Sellek said.
Michigan One Fair Wage is one of the plaintiffs in the case.
“The oral arguments being heard are about the 2018 One Fair Wage Initiative to raise the state minimum wage and end the subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth. We believe it’s very clear that the 2018 Michigan legislature violated the rights of the people of Michigan by adopting the measure- not allowing it to go to the ballot when it had already been certified to go to the ballot - and then overturning it in the same legislative session. We’re very glad that the MI Supreme Court is finally hearing arguments on this critical denial of democracy and economic justice and eagerly await the people of Michigan being restored their constitutional rights,” One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman said in a statement.
Sellek believes if the ruling is overturned, servers and bartenders will pay the price.
“Restaurants who do stay in business will have fewer servers. They are going to have self-service. They’re going to put increased costs for every food item to pay that minimum wage,” he said.