GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The fight over the future of Michigan’s minimum wage is back on.
One Fair Wage, part of the ballot committee Voters to Stop Pay Cuts, has helped launch a new referendum effort to increase the minimum wage and get rid of the tipped wage for service industry workers.
“Workers and voters are beyond infuriated,” said Saru Jayaraman, the group’s co-founder and president. “What voters have been saying for over a decade is people in Michigan who work deserve to be paid enough to feed their families, to cover the cost of living. That is not the case right now.”
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The group’s original proposal from 2018 was set to become law this February after a Michigan Supreme Court decision. But under heavy pressure from some service industry groups, state lawmakers passed a compromise at the last minute preserving the tipped wage. The minimum wage will still increase $15 by 2027…