As a campaign to save Michigan’s tipped wage credit ramps up statewide, restaurant workers who don’t want the current law to change are speaking out.
Save MI Tips is holding events around the state this week and has shared video statements from servers who will be affected by coming changes. They include Kim Cook of New Buffalo. She works at Brewster’s Italian Cafe and says the current system has worked quite well for her and her family.
“It is terribly frightening to think that the tip credit would go away,” Cook said. “I have served at this restaurant for 20 years. I bought a house with the money that I made from this restaurant. I raised my kids that way, and quite honestly, if we lost restaurant jobs or the tips, my and my children’s lives would change forever.”
Due to a Michigan Supreme Court ruling, tipped workers in the state will find themselves being paid the same minimum wage as everyone else come next year. Restaurant groups have warned this will drive many out of business, while servers who rely on tips say they’ll earn less.
Currently, Michigan’s “tip credit” subsidizes Michigan employers for their share of payroll taxes on tips. That will go away if state lawmakers don’t act to change what’s coming. States including California and Minnesota have already dropped the tip credit.