LANSING, Mich - The Michigan Court of Claims issued a ruling that the Michigan Legislature's 2018 decision to reverse a $12 minimum wage for all workers, including tippers workers earning the subminimum wage, was unconstitutional.
In reaction to the Court’s announcement, Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage, a national nonprofit advocating on behalf of restaurant workers earning the subminimum wage for tipped workers, issued the following statement:
“The subminimum wage for tipped workers has existed since Emancipation in 1863, when restaurant owners sought to hire newly freed slaves and pay them nothing, making them live on tips alone. Workers have been fighting this subminimum wage, which has been a source of sexual harassment and racial inequity, for decades - including in 2018, when we collected 400,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot.
"Today, the courts in Michigan vindicated the rights of these millions of workers, and millions of voters, to demand that workers in Michigan be paid a full, livable wage with tips on top. So many states are about to follow - given the Great Resignation. And Michigan's minimum wage will continue to go up, because we at One Fair Wage have collected enough signatures to force the wage up to $15 an hour in 2024. Today we made history!”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued the following statement regarding the Court of Claims opinion declaring “adopt and amend” unconstitutional:
“This order is a victory for the...
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