A sea of pink and green T-shirts filled the Montgomery County Council chambers in Rockville Tuesday as a couple hundred community members, primarily service workers and restaurant owners, gathered to share praise and opposition to a controversial bill that would raise the base minimum wage for tipped workers, if passed.
Restaurant workers who support the legislation wore hot pink shirts with “One Fair Wage” on the front. Those in opposition wore kelly green shirts with a message of “Save Our Tips.” The Rockville chambers were split about evenly between the two sides.
Currently, servers and other workers who rely on tips are required by county law to be paid $4 per hour before tips. The county’s minimum wage for non-tipped workers is $16.70 for employers with 51 or more employees, $15 for employers with 50 or fewer employees and $14.50 for employers with 10 or fewer employees. In neighboring Prince George’s County, the base minimum wage before tips is $3.63. Last week, the Prince George’s County Council opted to table a similar piece of legislation.
Almost 40 speakers shared their views on the legislation Tuesday, following a public demonstration outside the building. The rally was mostly peaceful apart from a scuffle involving two protestors from opposing sides. Emergency responders came to the scene and evaluated those involved without transporting anyone. A participant told Rockville City Police she will not press charges.
Council President Evan Glass (D-At-large) started the hearing, which ran for more than two hours, by asking speakers and observers to be respectful during comments, acknowledging that “there are a lot of emotions” surrounding the topic.
“We are respecting everyone’s opinions and differences,” Glass scolded after a speaker and an audience member got into a heckling exchange during the hearing.
Speakers who support the bill said it would help service workers maintain a reliable source of income and address racial and gender inequities.
Tamara Nunez del Prado, a waitress, said she supports the legislation because of the discrimination she has faced from customers, saying she cannot rely on tips. She said that because she is a transgender woman and an immigrant, customers have spit on her and yelled at her, in addition to not leaving tips.
“Sometimes I am not able to pay the rent at the end of the month,” Nunez del Prado said. “I provide for my two children … it is impossible with a salary that is below the state minimum. I have been depressed, I gave up, I almost committed suicide.”
Jibran Eubanks, an organizer with the 1199SEIU union, said relying on tips can be fraught for service workers, who cannot always anticipate their income.
“As a tipped worker, whether or not you can pay your rent should not be dictated on the kindness of customers,” Eubanks said.
Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Dist. 39) said he supports the legislation after speaking with numerous service workers who live in his district and seeing the challenges they went through in the aftermath of the pandemic. He said many of his constituents struggle to make ends meet, and raising the tipped minimum wage would be life-changing for them.
“I’m here on behalf of the workers who, quite frankly, would have been here, but can’t be here because they have to be at their job. They have to ensure they’re making enough hours to provide for themselves and their families,” Acevero said.
Bill opponents say it will strain restaurant budgets, discourage customers from tipping, and ultimately hurt the incomes of both businesses and workers.
“I’ve always had enough money to support myself with tips, whether working full time or part time,” said Elena James, a server at Silver Diner in Rockville. “By eliminating the tip credit and paying us the minimum wage it will significantly decrease our earning potential and cripple our ability to maintain our livelihoods.”
James said she’s concerned that her tips – and therefore, her overall income – will decrease if the legislation is passed.
“With customer service, you get back what you put out. Those who earn less than average provide less than average service and in my opinion, maybe this isn’t the industry for you,” James said.
Melvin Thompson, the senior vice president of government affairs for the Restaurant Association of Maryland, said if the legislation passes, restaurants will be stuck between increasing prices, which may drive away customers, or may choose to impose service charges, to increase income to pay servers.
“But what happens is when you impose a service charge, servers are going to earn less … most customers will not tip on top of a service charge. Or restaurants might cut [employees’] hours to cut back on their labor costs,” Thompson said.
Stephanie Salvatore, owner of Wild Tomato and Sal’s Italian Kitchen in Cabin John, voiced her concern that employees will leave for other jurisdictions if the legislation is passed. She said costs have already been increasing for small businesses.
“I just hope that you understand that we’re not interested in replacing our employees … with tablets,” Salvatore said. “For family owned businesses like mine, food costs have gone up. credit card fees have risen, vendors have added fees to cover the rising costs of fuel. These increases have dramatic impacts on our already small margins.”
If passed, the minimum wage would increase at a staggered rate–going up to $6 in July 2024, $8 in July 2025, and so on in increasing increments of $2 until reaching the same rate as the standard minimum wage, according to a chart provided by a council staff member. The legislation was introduced in September and is sponsored by Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large) and co-sponsored by Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5).
The legislation is similar to Initiative 82, which passed in Washington, D.C., last year, eliminating the tipped minimum wage.
Jawando and Mink told MoCo360 last month that they are hoping to learn from issues seen from D.C.’s law, which is one reason for staggering the increase. In D.C., the $5.35 minimum was first increased to $6 in May, and then jumped again to $8 in July. This led many restaurants to add service charges, according to Axios.
The Montgomery County legislation intentionally implements a year between each increase. Jawando said this is to allow business owners more time to plan, budget and adapt.
A joint Health and Human Services and Economic Development committee work session is scheduled for Jan. 18. Those wishing to submit material for the council’s consideration should do so before the close of business on Jan. 11. A vote on the legislation has not yet been scheduled.