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Democrats Propose Higher Wage for Tipped Workers

Some Democrats in the Legislature are renewing their push to increase the minimum wage for workers who earn tips. They say there should be one minimum wage that covers the entire workforce. 

State Representative Pam Faris (D-Clio) says tipped workers’ minimum wage is $5.05 an an hour less than other minimum wage workers. She says raising the tipped wage would mean fewer working poor families on public assistance.

“It’s a cyclical piece, where we are bringing everybody up to where you can almost make a livable wage and support a family,”

she says. There are about 160,000 Michigan workers who get the lower minimum wage plus tips. In many cases, their employers are argued to make up the difference if they fall short of the regular minimum wage.

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