Food for thought from Pat Jehlen, my State Senator. Ruth Ryals raryals@gmail.com ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Senator Pat Jehlen <pat@electpatjehlen.org> Date: Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 6:37 PM Subject: Question 5 To: <raryals@gmail.com> View this email in your browser <https://mailchi.mp/electpatjehlen/other-ballot-questions-7227255?e=9a10afcbd1> Dear Neighbor, Recently I've written about Question 2 <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=3f37716844&e=9a10afcbd1> on everyone's ballot and the 5 local questions <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=6538e019c7&e=9a10afcbd1> in communities in my district. Today I'm sharing information about Questions 3 and 5, which could play help reduce inequality, gender and racial pay gaps, and poverty. (Slide from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=4ad212b902&e=9a10afcbd1> ) Underlying almost every problem we face is the deep and growing inequality in income, wealth, and power. (slide from Gerontology Institute <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=ceba392ec0&e=9a10afcbd1> at UMass Boston) Inequality is the source of many other problems, including poverty, the housing and homelessness crisis, elder financial insecurity <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=dbfc9704ef&e=9a10afcbd1> (Massachusetts is the most insecure state for older adults living alone), the food crisis (with 34% of Massachusetts adults <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=9b347ef32f&e=9a10afcbd1>facing food insecurity even with subsidy programs), growing residential and school segregation and more. *QUESTION 5: MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED WORKERS* *I will vote yes on Question 5, which would eliminate the sub-minimum wage *for service workers who " <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=78c5db503d&e=9a10afcbd1>customarily and regularly receive more than $20 a month in tips." <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=75f5b9c5ea&e=9a10afcbd1> Right now, employers are required to pay tipped workers $6.75/hour, and if tips don't make up the gap to the regular minimum wage of $15/hour, they are supposed to make up the difference. Question 5 would increase the sub-minimum wage over 5 years to the regular minimum wage. Servers would then be paid $15/hour with tips on top. *One of the biggest sources of income inequality and the gender pay gap is disparity between different occupations. * Service workers are disproportionately women and people of color and are paid less than other workers. Tipped workers are 66% women. People of color make up 43% of the tipped workforce, compared with 29% of all workers. The* average tipped worker makes about 35% less,* including tips, than the state average per hour. Tipped workers are twice as likely to live in poverty and more likely to depend on public benefits. While the Grand Bargain of 2018 gradually increased both the minimum wage and the sub-minimum wage, the gap between them <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=817d20c7c2&e=9a10afcbd1> has grown from $7.65/hour to $8.25/hour. Tipped workers are much more likely to experience *wage theft.* The restaurant and hotel industry employs about half of tipped workers, and has the highest number of complaints about wage violations, and the highest number of enforcements by the Attorney General. And tipped workers are more likely to experience *sexual harassment*. The campaign against Question 5 says that workers oppose increasing their minimum wage. That's based on what their employers tell them: that workers' income will drop due to lower tips, and that restaurants will cut jobs or close. *WOULD ONE FAIR WAGE HURT WORKERS AND RESTAURANTS?* *Seven states adopted one fair wage decades ago. They have higher restaurant job growth, higher small business job growth, higher restaurant worker earnings, and higher tipping averages. They have half the rate of sexual harassment and lost fewer restaurants during the pandemic than Massachusetts. * (source, with footnotes <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=b6b9076963&e=9a10afcbd1> ) *A important new, detailed UMass study <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=da833a7837&e=9a10afcbd1>(which contains much of the information in this newsletter) reports that* *earnings (including tips) went up when states adopted one fair wage.* The study calculated that the *cost of eliminating the sub-minimum wage would raise restaurant costs 2% - less than inflation, less than the cost of food, rent, etc., and would be phased in. *So a $50 meal would cost $51, in five years, if there were no other cost increases. *WILL ONE FAIR WAGE REDUCE TIPS?* Besides evidence from other states, there is common sense. How many people know about the tipped sub-minimum? If they do, do they know if workers in a coffee shop with a tip jar, or those handing over a takeout order are making a full minimum wage? Often there'll be a "suggested tip" line on the bill, but it doesn't necessarily mean the server is paid $6.75. Most of us don't feel comfortable asking. And honestly, even if the coffee shop worker is making full minimum wage, it's not enough to live on. We usually base tips on a percent of the meal price. If prices do go up, we probably tip more. *CAN RESTAURANTS SURVIVE ONE FAIR WAGE?* Restaurants have low margins and face high and increasing costs. Too many already disappeared during the pandemic when sales went down. But, compared to other cost increases. this is a relatively minor, phased and predictable increase. Many have already raised wages to attract workers. There are almost 250 "high-road" restaurants in Massachusetts, which do pay full minimum wage. Among them are Juliet in Somerville and Mamaleh's and Circus Cooperative Cafe in Cambridge. *IS QUESTION 5 PERFECT?* Many people are concerned that, if the ballot question passes, the restaurant owner could, on their own, institute tip pooling with back of the house. That could reduce income for servers. The legislature could amend that. *QUESTION 3: UNIONIZATION FOR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK DRIVERS* *Unions are one of the few forces fighting back against the outrageous growth of inequality. * *I will vote yes on Question 3.* It would allow drivers for UBER, LYFT and other Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to *form unions, while retaining their flexibility. * It's a complex proposal - nine full pages in the "red book <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=6ad7e81a2f&e=9a10afcbd1>" published by the Secretary of State. It would allow sectoral bargaining: rideshare drivers could negotiate together for better pay and benefits that would apply across the industry. That kind of bargaining is already used in the Personal Care Assistant program. This question doesn't affect workers at other gig companies - like UberEats and DoorDash. But its passage or defeat could be a precedent here. Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against UBER and LYFT in 2020, arguing that they had misclassified drivers as independent contractors instead of as employees. Misclassification means that the companies don't have to pay minimum wage or overtime; and don't contribute to workers comp, unemployment insurance, health insurance or paid family and medical leave. So the drivers receive none of the benefits of those programs. Forbes reports <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=41abef3a84&e=9a10afcbd1> that UBER driver pay has been cut and prices raised since 2017, while the company's "take rate" has increased to 40% of the fares. (graph from Forbes) Senator Jason Lewis writes <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=51023e5bd3&e=9a10afcbd1>, "companies have been mistreating drivers — giving them a smaller and smaller share of the fares paid by riders; providing minimal, if any, benefits like healthcare or retirement; and deactivating drivers without any fair appeals process. The rideshare companies do not pay into the state’s unemployment insurance or workers compensation systems like other responsible employers do." In June, it appeared that the state would win the lawsuit, giving drivers all the rights and benefits of employees while preserving their flexibility. But at the same time, an UBER/LYFT ballot question was certified for the ballot, which would have overridden a positive decision by the court. The companies were expected to spend over $200 million on a campaign, as they had in California <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=f97ff3f649&e=9a10afcbd1>. With that amount of cash, and the ability to persuade the captive audience of drivers that being employees would make them lose their flexibility, the UBER/LYFT question was heavily favored to win, affecting not only drivers but many other workers <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=bfff335db1&e=9a10afcbd1>, as more industries turn to hiring gig workers. As soon as the ballot question was certified, Attorney General Andrea Campbell reached a settlement <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=3cb3f68f1b&e=9a10afcbd1> with the companies, to provide some benefits to drivers <https://electpatjehlen.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1afb18c1b75b287a2a3d610fc&id=02a9ed0aa0&e=9a10afcbd1> while requiring the companies to withdraw their ballot question. Question 3 would give those workers the ability to form a union, no matter what their status. SEIU 32BJ and the Machinists have been organizing drivers to form a union and filed the ballot question. *I will vote yes,* because it will give workers a chance for a voice at work. And it could encourage the legislature to consider other measures to protect workers. As always, I'm glad to hear your thoughts, though it's taking me time to respond to all of you. 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