Common Dreams 
Amid historic and ever-increasing wage inequality and as a record number of U.S. jurisdictions are set to raise their minimum wages in 2022, Michigan food service industry employees, owners, and advocates have launched a campaign in support of a ballot initiative to lift the state’s hourly pay floor from under $10 to $15 for all workers, including those who receive tips.
The Raise the Wage Michigan Ballot Committee kicked off last week with the goal of boosting the state’s minimum wage from the current level of $9.65—but just $3.67 for tipped employees—to $15 for all workers.
Speaking at a Tuesday press conference, Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and president of One Fair Wage—an advocacy group that is supporting the initiative—called the fight for $15 “the most popular issue that exists in the state.”
“Everybody overwhelmingly agrees, people deserve to be paid a fair living wage when they work,” she said…
