BOSTON — A bipartisan group of mayors are urging voters to reject a proposal on the November ballot that would raise wages for tipped workers, citing concerns about the impact of higher labor costs on local bars and restaurants.
The proposal, which has cleared several other hurdles to the Nov. 5 ballot, asks voters to decide if the state should require bars, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues to pay tipped workers the state’s $15 per hour wage floor, in addition to gratuities.
If approved, the plan would phase out the tipped wage for workers over five years, allowing them to earn up to $15 per hour and keep their tips. It would also allow restaurants to “pool” tips and distribute them equally among the workers.
But a group of mayors, who represent communities including Newburyport, Methuen, Haverhill and Gardner, argue that the passage of the ballot question would devastate Main Street restaurants that are still recovering from the residual effects of the pandemic.
Massachusetts law requires workers to be paid at least $15 an hour — under the “grand bargain” package the Legislature brokered to avert a proposal to cut the state’s sales tax and other proposals. The 2018 law allows bars and restaurants to pay tipped workers $6.75 per hour.
Supporters of phasing out the tipped wage law say it would improve wages for underpaid workers and argue that claims about the negative effect on business owners are unfounded.
But critics argue the plan would increase costs for bars and restaurants that already operate on narrow margins, and will result in higher prices for consumers.
Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon said he worked in restaurants for more than three decades and said it was a job that “kept my family in our home and food on our table.
“Nobody knows the Massachusetts tipping system better than the bartenders, servers, and owners themselves,” he said in a statement. “This could cripple restaurants in the commonwealth, and particularly my city of Newburyport. To prevent excess, unnecessary financial burdens, it is of utmost importance to vote NO this November.”
Haverhill Mayor Melinda Barrett echoes the sentiments, saying the restaurant industry “is a cornerstone of our local economy, providing jobs and generating tax revenue.
“This ballot question would disrupt the system that currently works for servers, bartenders, and business owners who have said time and time again that they want to keep it the way it is.”
Methuen Mayor Neil Perry, who also opposes Question 5, said passage of the referendum “will create irreversible economic damages within each and every community in Massachusetts.”
A spokesman for the Committee to Protect Tips, the group opposing Question 5, said the mayors coming out against the referendum recognize that the proposal “will lower tipped employee take home pay, skyrocket costs to restaurants and dramatically increase prices to patrons resulting in fewer jobs and closured businesses.
“When mayors walk into a restaurant in their community, servers and bartenders are letting them know directly that there is overwhelming opposition among the staff, management and owners of neighborhood restaurants across the state,” he said in a statement.
In June, the state Supreme Judicial Court tossed out a challenge by restaurant groups alleging the proposal violates a requirement in the state Constitution that initiative petitions must contain only ‘related or mutually dependent’ subjects.
The justices unanimously concluded that Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office correctly certified the question for the November ballot.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association and Committee to Protect Tips filed a complaint with the state Ballot Law Commission alleging that backers of the ballot question submitted “fraudulent” signatures from people who aren’t registered to vote, among other claims.
But the groups withdrew their objections at the last minute, citing a lack of time to conduct a thorough review and make their arguments before the panel.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com
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