Cleveland's Mayor wasn’t at City Hall Thursday.
Instead, Justin Bibb was waiting tables at Fat Cats, a restaurant in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood that will be among 20 eateries committed to paying tipped workers more than minimum wage to receive grants this year.
The city is partnering with wage advocacy groups to provide $100,000 in grants for restaurants that commit to paying a fifteen-dollar minimum wage to tipped workers.
Service workers like Kent State student Carissa Baer said inflation is one reason minimum wage jobs are not cutting it.
"There are certain thoughts you catch yourself having as a minimum wage worker," she said. "How many tanks of gas did my eight-hour shift buy me? Do I have to take my coworker’s shift to make my rent?"
The grant program, $50,000 of which was funded by the Gund Foundation and led by advocacy group One Fair Wage, will give 20 participating restaurants $5,000 to undergo trainings and programs related to fair wages, equity and recruitment.
“We’ve talked to a lot of business owners, restaurants included, about what they need," said OhioMeansJobs Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Executive Director Michelle Rose. "And what they need is to attract and retain a workforce, which has been especially difficult in the pandemic.”
Bibb announced, to his staff's surprise, that the city would match the $50,000 commitment to bring the total in grants to $100,000. A city spokesperson said they are still determining where that money will come from.
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