In Support Of Gov. Whitmer’s Plan To Support Restaurants Raising Wages To $15 Per Hour, And Call For Statewide Policy Change
Workers to March to AG Dana Nessel’s Office Asking Her to “Be A Hero, Not the Block” in Lawsuit Against Adopt-and-Amend Bait-and-Switch of One Fair Wage Legislation
Actions Come in the Midst of Staffing Crisis for Michigan Restaurants; 64% of Michigan Workers Say They Are Considering Leaving Restaurant Jobs Amid Low Wages and Tips
LANSING, MICHIGAN – Earlier today at 10:30 am ET, Michigan restaurant workers held a rally outside of the State Capitol building in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to use federal stimulus money to help Michigan businesses pay workers $15 per hour, and call for the State to enforce the law passed by the legislature in 2018 to raise the wage and end the subminimum wage for tipped workers… The rally comes amid a massive staffing crisis throughout Michigan, with 64% of Michigan workers saying they are considering leaving their restaurant jobs due to low wages and tips, and 77% saying the one thing that would make them return to restaurants is a full livable wage from their employers with tips on top.
Michigan restaurant workers then marched to Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office at 11:00 am ET urging her to “Be a Hero, Not a Block” in an effort to repeal the Republican-led bait-and-switch of a popular measure raising Michigan’s minimum wage and providing for paid leave for all workers.
“We are standing to make One Fair Wage the law of the land because our workers not only deserve it, but it is what the people want. Thousands of signatures were captured because the people of Michigan were ready to vote yes, and that opportunity was unconstitutionally taken away from them. It is up to our Attorney General Nessel to make it right. The citizens of Michigan are depending on it,” explained Chantel Watkins, Michigan organizer for One Fair Wage.
According to a new report from One Fair Wage, a national organization that advocates on behalf of restaurant workers and the UC Berkeley Food Labor Research Center 64% of Michigan workers are considering leaving their jobs in the restaurant industry, with the overwhelming majority (72%) citing low wages and tips as the primary reason. Specifically, One Fair Wage’s report found that:
-
64% of Michigan workers are considering leaving their restaurant job with the pandemic. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Michigan workers report that they are leaving restaurant jobs due to low wages and tips. ‘Low wages and tips’ was the most popular reason for leaving the industry, nearly 7 percentage points higher than the second most popular reason – COVID health risks.
-
The vast majority of all Michigan respondents (77%) report having a full, stable, livable wage would make them consider staying at their job. Again, ‘full, stable, livable wages’ was by far the most popular factor that workers reported would make them stay at their job, nearly 30 percentage points higher than the second most popular factor – better COVID safety measures.
-
Nearly 9 in 10 Michigan workers (89%) say their tips have decreased during the pandemic, and nearly three-quarters (76%) say their tips are down 50% or more.
-
Michigan workers report leaving their restaurant jobs due to hostility and harassment from customers at a rate 24% higher than the national average.
-
82% of Michigan workers reported coming into contact with maskless individuals at least once per shift. 62% know someone that has died from COVID.
-
Women in Michigan were more than twice as likely as men to report a noticeable increase in the levels of sexual harassment during the pandemic (51% v 24%).
READ THE FULL REPORT HERE: https://onefairwage.site/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/OFW_WageShortage_MI-1.pdf
In May, One Fair Wage, a national nonprofit that advocates on behalf of subminimum wage workers, joined with other Michigan groups in filing a lawsuit arguing that the Michigan legislature’s 2018 decision to reverse state law mandating a $12 minimum wage increase and One Fair Wage – a full minimum wage plus tips – was unconstitutional.
The lawsuit says the Republican legislature’s attempt to subvert the will of the people through manipulative legislative practices should be deemed unconstitutional per the state constitution and demands that the law requiring a minimum wage increase and One Fair Wage – a full minimum wage for tipped workers, as originally passed, be enforced. The law would guarantee hundreds of thousands of Michigan workers a raise, including hundreds of thousands of tipped Michigan workers currently earning a subminimum wage, the full minimum wage with tips on top, as well as earned paid sick leave.
The lawsuit argues the “Adopt-and-Amend” scheme the Republican legislature used in 2018 was unconstitutional. One Fair Wage seeks “re-enactment” of the original MI One Fair Wage ballot question and the support of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Governor Gretchen Whitmer to enforce the original law. Enforcement of the original law will ensure subminimum wage tipped workers receive One Fair Wage once and for all.
# # # # #
