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Voters may force restaurant owners to pay 'tipped workers' more money

The vote will happen during DC's primary election on June 19th.
Credit: Metzger, Clarice

WASHINGTON (WUSA9) — More than 100 DC bars and restaurants came together to beg customers to vote against increasing the minimum wage for bartenders, waiters, and other employees who rely on tips.

Ballot initiative 77 will let voters decide if businesses will be forced to pay tipped employees minimum wage.

WUSA9 asked a couple dozen people walking in DC how they would vote, but it was hard to find anyone who would vote ‘no’ on the initiative.

RELATED: Seattle's $15 minimum wage may be hurting workers, report finds

“I think that anyone that works hard should at least receive the minimum wage,” Jeff Wincott said.

If passed, the measure would gradually raise the minimum wage for workers who rely on tips.

It would require business owners to pay servers and bartenders the city’s standard minimum wage.

The minimum wage in DC is currently set at $12.50 an hour.

Tipped workers, however, make a base pay of $3.33 an hour and make up the difference through tips.

“Sometimes tipping obviously comes into the picture, and if they end up having a slow day, it is a little ridiculous they wouldn’t have a universal minimum wage that they could rely on in order to pay their bills,” Lydia Pappas explained.

The large group of restaurant owners, called ‘Vote No 77,’ said the problem that the initiative is trying to fix is not an issue.

By law, employers are required to pay workers if they fall short of making the minimum wage.

According to Solace Duncan with 'Save Our Tips', "most tipped employees currently make between $20-40/ hour in D.C. In this context, $15, would mean tipped employees will make less. This is the crux of why the initiative is so unpopular amongst the workers whom it claims to help."

The group of owners said the added costs could have negative impacts on their businesses, such as spiking food and drink prices, firing staff, and cutting workers’ hours.

Supporters also argue the tipped minimum wage system pushes women to deal with sexual harassment from customers, but those on the other side claim the initiative only attempts to treat a symptom and not a cause of the problem.

Organizers of the ‘Vote No 77’ group were not immediately available for an interview on Sunday.

The vote will happen during DC’s primary election on June 19th.

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