Join us this Tuesday at 11am on Zoom to hear from featured speakers Tom Pereillo, President of Open Society United States, to announce their investment in the new ballot measure; Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research Partners on their new poll of DC tipped workers; Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage Action, and DC service workers like Aniyah & I and employers who are behind the new ballot initiative.
As you know, DC service workers like us have been struggling to end the subminimum wage for tipped workers – currently just a measly $5 .05 an hour – for many years. They succeeded in winning the issue overwhelmingly on the ballot in 2018, only to have the DC Council overturn the will of the people based on opposition from the restaurant industry.
While DC voters have always supported One Fair Wage, new polling shows that the industry is more than ready for it. New polling by Lake Research Associates will be shown at this event and the results are clear: an overwhelming majority of tipped workers want a full minimum wage with tips on top. Moreover, with the pandemic, thousands of these service workers have demonstrated that they are actually no longer willing to work in the service industry unless they receive a full wage plus tips. As a result, many DC restaurant owners have transitioned to paying a full livable wage with tips on top.
In this context, One Fair Wage Action and other DC ally groups have resurrected the tipped worker minimum wage ballot measure, which the DC Board of Elections just unanimously passed to petition stage.