Servers rally against tipped wage initiative at State House as election nears
Photo | Eric Casey
Opponents of Question 5 rallied at the State House in October.
Restaurants owners and workers openly acknowledged wage theft and harassment problems in their industry Wednesday, but they argued a ballot measure seeking to eliminate the tipped-wage structure would not solve core issues.
With less than a week until Election Day, about 16 restaurant workers gathered on the State House steps to urge Bay Staters to vote against Question 5, warning the measure would lead to job losses and reduced services, and fall short of proponents' goal to boost the livelihoods of tipped employees.
"Wage theft is real, harassment is real in the workplace, discrimination is real in the workplace, sexual assault is real in the workplace, and we have to do better for our workers on those issues, but this bill isn't going to solve that," Joe McGuirk, a bartender at Highland Kitchen in Somerville, said during a press conference organized by Massachusetts Restaurants United.
He continued, "In fact, we believe this bill will hurt the places that I have been fortunate enough to work at, the places that I actually enjoy going to -- local places, owner-operated places, the places that define our neighborhoods, that add character, and uniqueness, and authenticity to our neighborhoods, the places that serve all of our residents, not just some."
MRU represents 1,200 restaurant members who are independent operators with less than five restaurants in Massachusetts.
Ballot question supporters with One Fair Wage also assembled recently outside the state capitol "to highlight the growing wage theft crisis in the Massachusetts restaurant industry and expose the corporate-backed anti-worker agenda of opponents fighting fair wages for tipped workers."
The OFW event on Friday included Sen. Pat Jehlen, Reps. Samantha Montaño and Steve Owens, and attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. The campaign, which says it's focused on securing a livable wage for tipped workers, last week also touted endorsements from Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Sen. Lydia Edwards and Rep. John Moran. Moran later told Politico he did not endorse the campaign.
Saru Jayaraman, president of OFW, told the News Service Wednesday that Boston workers who were surveyed 11 years ago when the campaign effort got started pegged the "subminimum" wage as the "key solution" to all issues that tipped employees had raised. Jayaraman also pointed to a recent event hosted by OFW, in which Harvard Law School professor Catharine MacKinnon discussed her research about the high rate of sexual harassment among tipped workers.
"She said the most effective solution she'd ever seen is ending the subminimum wage for tipped workers. She said it's more effective than making sexual harassment illegal, which has been her life's work," Jayaraman said. "So we've published multiple studies over the years showing that the states that have one fair wage, a full minimum wage with tips on top, have one-half the rate of sexual harassment as Massachusetts, than the 42 states with a subminimum wage, and also one-third the rate of wage theft."
Tipped workers in Massachusetts, including waitresses and bartenders, currently make a hourly wage of $6.75. If they do not earn enough in tips to reach the full minimum hourly wage of $15, their employers must make up the difference.
Question 5 would gradually phase out that tipped-wage structure over a five-year period. The question also includes a provision allowing employers who pay workers at least the state minimum wage to administer a tip pool that would combine the tips given to tipped workers and distribute them among all workers, including non-tipped workers like dishwashers.
Nancy Caswell, operator at the Brine restaurant and oyster bar in Newburyport, argued voting no on Question 5 would give restaurant owners more time to improve working conditions and promote the wellbeing of "restaurant families" -- without the financial consequences of the referendum.
"A vote 'no' on Question 5 will enable us to return to the table for more thoughtful discussions with those who operate businesses here in Massachusetts, not activists from California," Caswell said.
Caswell, a former MRU president, later warned, "When it comes to this ballot initiative, it looks like it would be beneficial to our industry, but it hurts us, so please believe us and trust us on that. This is not something that will easily be able to be reversed."
Asked about the concerns discussed by opponents Wednesday, Jayaraman broadly slammed the leaders of MRU and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, the lead opposition group for Question 5, for allegedly having wage theft complaints filed against them, according to public records requests she said OFW obtained from the attorney general's office.
"Workplace violations are so common in the industry that four of the eight board members of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association have had wage theft complaints filed with the Massachusetts Attorney General against them, with two having already received enforcement actions by the Attorney General's office," OFW said in a report released Friday.
Steve Clark, CEO of MRA, said his association was "egregiously shocked" by the allegations against one board member in particular, and he said OFW "completely fabricated the entire story." Clark said he checked with other board members and confirmed they have no pending litigation or settlements against them.
"During a press conference in front of the State House, Saru and her team specifically used provably false and defamatory language against the business of Doug Bacon, the Chairperson for the Committee to Protect Tips, as well as the board members of the MA Restaurant Association," the committee said in a statement.
At Wednesday's event, McGuirk, the Somerville bartender, said he's spoken to hundreds of Massachusetts restaurant workers who are "overwhelmingly" against the question. He said he can count under 10 workers who intend to vote yes.
To resolve woes among restaurant employees, plus other low- and middle-income workers, McGuirk said policies are needed to address "root problems."
"We'll address our spiraling housing costs, we'll address our health care costs, we'll address the wealth gap that exists between white collar workers and blue collar workers that's been growing over the last 40 years," he said.
Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll separately reiterated their opposition to Question 5 on Wednesday.
"As former waitresses who know what it's like to rely on tips, we know how hard our servers work and believe they deserve to be well-compensated for all they do," Healey and Driscoll said in a statement. "It's why we are joining with servers across the state in opposing Question 5 because we believe it will lower their compensation, not raise it. We also are supporting our restaurant owners who believe this initiative will hurt small businesses and raise costs on customers. That's why we ask voters to carefully consider the harm this question will have on our servers, restaurants, customers, and the Massachusetts economy -- and vote No on 5."
Ana Sortun, a partner at Cambridge and Somerville establishments like Oleana, Sofra and Sarma, said the measure is not going to help the restaurant industry, which already operates on "very thin" margins. Sortun outlined a litany of restaurant workers she's worried about should voters approve the ballot question.
"I'm concerned about our support staff, people like bussers and food runners, people like dishwashers and barbacks. I'm concerned for their jobs," Sortun said. "We're going to have to cut some of those jobs. I'm concerned about the loss of service and hospitality."
Jayaraman dismissed that argument, saying she has "enormous amounts of evidence that there's absolutely no truth in the idea that jobs will be lost or tips will go away."
In Washington, D.C., where the city is phasing out tipped wages, Jayaraman said there's been a 7 percent increase in restaurant jobs and a nearly 7 percent increase in worker income. A recent Tufts University analysis says not enough time has passed to adequately assess the policy impact in the nation's capital.
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