After months of legal challenges and behind-the-scenes lobbying, D.C. residents in November will again vote on a controversial ballot initiative that would dramatically change how tipped workers in the District are paid.
The D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday delivered a fatal blow to Initiative 82’s opponents’ attempts to keep the measure off the ballot entirely, rejecting their request for a hearing before the court’s full slate of judges. Voters will now be asked to decide whether to steadily raise the city’s tipped minimum wage of $5.35 per hour to match the standard minimum wage of $16.10 an hour by 2027.
Those in favor of the change say it would standardize pay for all workers, reducing wage theft while making tipping a “genuine gratuity” rather than a mechanism to subsidize worker pay. Detractors argue that it would further harm the city’s dining industry, which is already suffering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to higher menu prices and costs while shrinking tips for workers.
If any of that sounds familiar, that’s because it is: A near-identical ballot measure, Initiative 77, was passed by 55 percent of District voters in 2018 but was repealed months later by the D.C. Council. Servers in 2018 routinely sported buttons reading “Save Our Tips,” businesses posted “Vote NO on Initiative 77” signs on doors, and bar and restaurant employees heckled pro-Initiative 77 organizers during a raucous public hearing at the Black Cat nightclub. Campaigning...
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