Do servers and bartenders even want Question 5 to pass? Boston.com asked nearly a dozen former and current workers.
Question 5, which would eliminate the tipped minimum wage, has proven to be contentious in Massachusetts, even among the workers the proposal aims to help.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association, Gov. Maura Healey, and restaurant owners (Trina’s Starlite Lounge, Nightshade Noodle Bar, and Jamie Bissonnette, for example) have come out strongly against it. Labor organizers, One Fair Wage, and the Boston Globe editorial board on the other hand, want to make Massachusetts the eighth state to do away with a system they say is exploitative and perpetuates income inequality.
And diners wonder what such a proposal could mean for tipping culture, a point of frustration in recent years due to service fees.
But what do servers and bartenders think? Boston.com interviewed nearly a dozen former and current restaurant and bar employees. Some of the sources requested to not be named, or to not mention their workplace by name.