Ballot Question 5 is a pivotal question in the Massachusetts 2024 election: It will determine if tipped workers should have an increased minimum wage instead of the current system they are currently under. Although I have never been a tipped worker, before I began my research, I thoroughly believed that an increase in their minimum wage would substantially benefit these workers, and the current system that they are being paid through is giving them an unlivable wage. But once I began my research, my opinion swiftly changed.
I began my research by trying to find some preliminary information on the wages of tipped workers. In this search, I found that the current minimum wage for tipped workers is $6.75 per hour. Seeing this information, I thought, would cement my opinion to say “yes” to Question 5. However, once I continued my research, I determined that this didn’t truly determine their income; the tips are vital to the wages of these workers.
The next step I took was interviewing a tipped worker to learn more. For this, I spoke to an adult server in the restaurant industry and asked many questions about Question 5. This is when the answer to how people should vote became very clear to me.
I wanted to know the impact of the ballot question results on servers and approximately how much money servers usually make per shift. All of their answers provided great reasons to vote no, but the one that really showed how better off these tipped workers would be without this new proposed system was how much money they were making. When I asked the adult server how much money they made on average, they said in a 9-hour shift, they make between $300 and $500. This equates to making at least $33 per hour and at most $55 per hour. For me, that statistic alone was enough for my opinion to be swayed.
Some may argue that voting ”yes” will guarantee tipped workers a living wage–especially because tips aren’t guaranteed. But if you think this way, I urge you to go through the same process I did: have a real conversation with people affected by the outcome of this vote. If you talk to people you know who are tipped workers, you will learn the current system is a better way to compensate these workers, and if Question 5 passes, it will cause more harm than good.
Don’t vote on this important ballot question without understanding how both outcomes will affect tipped workers. Voting “no” is financially beneficial to tipped workers in Massachusetts.