These past few weeks the House and Senate have been working on a coronavirus relief package that included a proposal, the Raise the Wage Act, to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. This would be the first federal wage increase since 2009, when the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 an hour. For tipped restaurant workers, wages can be even lower, just $2.13 an hour in some states. The proposal in the latest COVID-19 stimulus package would have eliminated the tipped subminimum wage, raising the minimum across the board. Plans for the increase are currently stalled in the Senate, but the case for increasing hourly wages continues. Check out these articles on the proposed minimum wage increase and the impact it would have on restaurant workers.
The tense battle in the Senate over the proposal and what’s next for Democrats championing the proposal:
- Democrats put up minimum fight on $15-an-hour wage, NBC News
- Senior Democrats abandon backup plan on $15 minimum wage, Washington Post
- Opinion: A $15 minimum wage won’t happen. Democrats should get to work on a more modest raise, Washington Post
How a federal wage increase would impact restaurant workers:
- What Biden’s Minimum-Wage Plan Means for Restaurant Workers, Wall Street Journal
- $15 minimum wage debate: Why some say ‘flipping burgers’ is the hardest job, Today
The role a wage increase would play in fighting COVID-19:
- For these tipped workers, $15 minimum wage is a matter of COVID-19 survival, USA Today
- The Tipped Minimum Wage Didn’t Help Restaurants and Hotels Survive the Pandemic, Says a New Report, Mother Jones
How a minimum wage increase could benefit small businesses:
- Small Businesses Get a Boost From a $15 Minimum Wage, Center for American Progress
- How a $15 minimum wage could help restaurants and other hard-hit small businesses, Brookings Institution
A minimum wage increase would be especially critical for some populations:
- A $15 federal minimum wage would give 19 million women a raise, CNBC
- Raising the Minimum Wage Would Be Transformative for Women, Center for American Progress
- Fewer Americans are earning less than $15 an hour, but Black and Hispanic women make up a bigger share of them, Washington Post
Businesses weigh in on the potential wage increase:
- Many Businesses Support a Minimum-Wage Increase—Just Not Biden’s $15-an-Hour Plan, Wall Street Journal
Senators propose alternative plans for raising the minimum wage:
- Lindsey Graham Offers “Waffle House” Plan to Dems Worried About $15 Minimum Wage, Newsweek
The public’s opinion on raising the minimum wage:
- Most Americans support a $15 minimum wage but are split on how soon it should happen, Business Insider
The case against raising the minimum wage:
- National Restaurant Association says Raise the Wage Act is the wrong bill at the wrong time, Vending Market Watch
- NRA: Why we oppose the Raise the Wage Act, Restaurant Dive
What happens when chain restaurants raise wages:
- What McDonald’s Shows About The Minimum Wage, NPR
- P. Terry’s Burger Stand raises minimum wage to $15 an hour, Austin Business Journal
The current minimum wage rates across New York State:
- New York’s minimum wage just went up: Here’s what it is in your area of the state, Democrat and Chronicle
In other restaurant news, on tipping during the pandemic:
- How Much Should I Tip Restaurant Workers During the Pandemic?, Condé Nast Traveler
- Is This the End of Tipping?, The New York Times
Want to learn more? Check out these additional resources and organizations fighting to raise the minimum wage:
Organizations:
Resources:
- This lecture, part of UC Berkeley’s course and community lecture series Edible Education 101 features Saru Jayaraman, the President of One Fair Wage and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. In the lecture, Jayaraman discusses the history of tipped wages, the disproportionate impact subminimum wages have on women of color, and ways for restaurants and individuals to join the cause. The lecture also features Lenore Estrada, the Executive Director of the SF New Deal, a nonprofit working to feed San Francisco Bay Area residents in need.
- Minimum wage fact sheet from One Fair Wage detailing why a federal minimum wage increase is critical.
- This report from the Economic Policy Institute on the economic impacts gained from raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
- Previous articles from the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center on Florida’s vote in increase the minimum wage in 2020, fast food workers fight for fair wages in 2018
