Massachusetts Ballot Question 5 would raise minimum pay for tipped workers, if voters approve
BOSTON - Ballot Question 5 in the 2024 election left Massachusetts voters with a choice - should the state raise the minimum wage for tipped workers?
Massachusetts Ballot Question 5
A "yes" vote would increase the minimum hourly wage for tipped workers over a 5-year period until it reaches the state requirement of $15 an hour by 2029. It would allow for distribution of pooled tips evenly among workers who aren't managers.
A "no" vote would mean no change to the way tipped workers are currently paid.
There have been strong opinions on both sides, especially in the service industry.
Non-tipped workers make at least $15 an hour in Massachusetts. Those who can collect tips, like bartenders and servers, make $6.75 an hour, as long as their total earnings with tips reach $15 an hour. If the employee doesn't get enough in tips, the employer has to cover it.
"Our research suggests that in other places that have these laws that require employers to cover, tipped workers tend to make a little bit more. But then there are additional stresses on restaurants and other businesses, which they tend to have to address with higher prices, new service fees," said Evan Horowitz, the executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University.
"Yes" on Ballot Question 5
The organization One Fair Wage, which is based out of New York City and has a chapter in Massachusetts, pushed to get the question on this year's ballot.
"It's another way to just even the playing field," said "Yes on 5" supporter Grace McGovern. She works part-time at Democracy Brewing in Boston and doesn't believe there should be a two-tiered wage system in Massachusetts.
"That means that every time that you get a tip, that is helping you reach above $15 an hour. It's not actually a tip. It's just a subsidy so that your employer doesn't have to pay you the full $15 an hour," she told WBZ-TV.
"No" on Ballot Question 5
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a former server, is voting "no" on Question 5. She told GBH News last month the ballot question is "a well-intentioned effort brought by out-of-state interests."
"I think we're doing it right here," Healy said.
Bartender Kyle Riess told WBZ he will lose thousands of a dollars a year if the ballot question is approved.
"I'm really happy with the way it is. I don't want it to change," Riess said. "I understand One Fair Wage sounds really good on paper, that's nice. Everyone should get one fair wage, right? But my wage is very fair and I think a lot of bartenders, servers would agree with me on that."
Riess's boss said if "yes" wins, they would have to "dramatically increase" menu prices.
Check back here after 8 p.m. for live election results on Ballot Question 5.
