Vote NO on Ballot Question 5

At first glance this seemed to line up with our ethos. For years I’ve been focused on equitable wages and to bridge the pay gap between front and back of house. We pay servers a higher hourly wage and collect a 20% admin fee in lieu of a tip and long story short, we make it work, but it is not perfect and frankly it's incredibly expensive. I do this because it’s good for the culture of my specific restaurant and the particular service we provide, and because it's virtually discrimination-proof, but otherwise it is not the best business move. Especially not right now. I believe there is plenty wrong with our industry and I feel strongly that tip culture needs to evolve into something more sustainable for consumers and workers, but Ballot Question 5 is NOT the answer. 

Servers (and other tipped FOH workers) are fine. Servers are the highest paid people in lots of restaurants. They don’t need to be saved. Servers in MA make $35 an hour on average. Guess who does not make $35 an hour? Everyone else. That is where the real problem is. This is also where people create this uproar toward owners that our businesses aren't viable if we can’t pay every single person a living wage merely on food and beverage sales- not to mention insurances and benefits. Our society doesn’t really value food, the cost of it, or the people behind the scenes preparing it. If we did, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. If it was acceptable to place real value on our skills behind the scenes we could charge what we need to and move on but until everything else in society can line up to accommodate consumers being able to put more money towards food industries, this will remain a shit-show. 

This is our reality to work with and around as best we can every day, meanwhile there is this random group from California throwing 1 million dollars towards shallow legislation because they feel pity for.. the highest paid in our industry??..it's laughable. Not to sound too spicy but this sounds like three things: bored wealthy people feeling guilty about receiving service, people not wanting to pay for service, and wealthy people not giving a shit about us who cook and clean in the back, in addition to not understanding the nuances of our businesses while steamrolling ahead with this fabricated story about what's “fair” while ignoring the repercussions this has had in other states. Furthermore, the state will obviously take more tax revenue from higher payrolls and increased costs, which is slimy. The govt takes enough from us all, especially small business owners, and especially small food business owners. Please do not be fooled by this low-blow of a tax ploy intended to rip more from all of us, including you as the consumer. Forcing us to drastically increase costs (including payroll taxes) while the cost of goods remain fucked and rents continue to be astronomical for most people doesn’t feel right. We will see devastating effects. 

This will drive up menu costs.

This will lower tip revenue, which will lower the quality of service you receive as a guest. 

This will discourage excellence in our industry in this state - which is already an issue here due to our real problems with how money moves.

We will see more closures. 

We’ve been through enough. Again, things do need to change, but this is not the way. Please vote NO on Ballot Question 5.