DETROIT (WWJ) -- There's concern among some servers and bartenders in Michigan that they may lose their tips, or even their jobs, as a result of a ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court.
In essence, the decision Wednesday means that changes sought by a 2018 ballot initiative — which were adopted by the Legislature and then amended before becoming law — will be rolled out in the coming months.
Among these changes are: a gradual hike in Michigan's minimum wage, a rule mandating that workers earn paid sick leave, and the elimination of the "tip credit," which allows a lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
While getting paid more may sound like a good thing, John Sellek, spokesperson for "Save MI Tips" said this whole thing spells disaster for tipped workers.
"They've been saying for two years, they did not ask for this plan and they do not want it," Sellek told WWJ Newsradio 950's Ryan Wrecker. "You know, servers in their own words say that the tips that they make now will go away, basically. Because once restaurant patrons understand that they're making a full minimum wage, the tip service system that we have now as we know it will go away."
"And that's especially true," he said, "with the pressure that customers are under right now with inflationary costs worse than losing their income is that they think their jobs will be eliminated."
According to Selleck, 70% of servers in a Michigan survey said they believe that their jobs are on the line.
"And that's because they work in an industry that is still fragile after the pandemic, they're facing all the crazy implications of inflation that their customers are facing," Selleck sad.
"And so to essentially almost double the labor costs for restaurants in just 200 days, just will not work. And so we're gonna see jobs eliminated we're gonna see full service restaurants change to self service or we're just gonna see restaurants and bars flat out close, which just leaves more empty storefronts in our communities."
Selleck noted that this plan never made it to the ballot, and was not approved or even voted on by the public, is now half-a-decade old.
He said the plan simply does not make sense today, and he's hoping that — with help from the state Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — there's time to turn this around.
"It's very exciting to see people from both parties, Republican and Democrat, come forward today," Selleck said. "They told us behind the scenes for months that they're with us."
On the other side of the issue stands the group One Fair Wage, which called the court's ruling a "worker-led victory."
The group, which helped lobby for changes in the law, said this ruling means 494,000 Michigan workers will get a raise.
"We have finally prevailed over the corporate interests who tried everything they could to prevent all workers, including restaurant workers, from being paid a full, fair wage with tips on top," the statement by One Fair Wage reads.
“Back in 2018, we gathered more than 400,000 signatures to support raising wages for all workers in Michigan, including tipped workers, and effectively end the subminimum wage – a direct legacy of slavery. Republicans who controlled the legislature at that time recognized the popularity of raising the minimum wage and its power to mobilize hundreds of thousands of new, unlikely voters. In an attempt to undermine the democratic process, they adopted the measure to remove it from the ballot, and then planned to reverse the wage increase after the election. Thankfully, the court saw through this undemocratic maneuvering and blocked their efforts to suppress the will of the people."