If you are just tuning into the cacophonous hammering of one of the final nails in the Democratic Party’s coffin, don’t worry, you still have time to stop the economic and political fiasco unfolding in Michigan before it’s too late.
Many of you contacted Gov. Whitmer as well as Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Winnie Brinks, who is spearheading the effort to dismantle the wage floor law she previously pledged to defend. Thank you.
Let me catch you up and then I’m going to ask you to make two phone calls TODAY to Gov. Whitmer and Sen. Brinks (information below).
The details are a little complicated, but basically the Senate still has to vote on HB402, which is the sick leave half of current law. SB8, the wage part of the bill, is “tie barred” to HB402, so even though SB8 has already passed the Senate, if HB402 doesn’t pass, the entire effort to dismantle the wage floor will fail.
Please call AND email Sen. Brinks and urge her to kill the deal.
Sen. Brinks’ office is defending her flip-flop, citing the volume of phone calls they have received from servers who are concerned that the new law would lead to lower wages and fewer jobs. Apparently, the volume of calls they have received since the judicial ruling went into effect “really surprised” them, so they have decided to “listen to the people.” They believe the bill they are pushing is a “compromise that will please most.” Give me a break.
We Southerners have an expression: sitting on the fence can only ever get you one thing. Splinters! Democrats have been sitting on the fence between workers and owners and labor and capital for a long time. And because of it, they just suffered a very splintery election. Please stop.
This is not Brinks’ or Whitmer’s first rodeo. Most of the calls they are receiving are likely the result of an orchestrated manipulation of employees by the National Restaurant Association (NRA), an organization with a $100 million annual budget whose primary purpose seems to be to depress the wages of the 10% of the workforce in that industry. The NRA sees the Michigan wage fight the same way Patriotic Millionaires does — as a critical juncture — a “tipping point,” if you will, in the entire national wage fight. The NRA is throwing everything they have at Michigan because if they lose this battle they are more likely to lose the war.
Patriotic Millionaires have been up against the National Restaurant Association for a long time. We know their playbook. Most of the servers who called Sen. Brinks likely received a very specific — and very false — message from their employers. They were told that the law would eliminate tips altogether. It won’t. They were told that if restaurant owners had to pay servers a full wage, their shifts would be cut and that the restaurants might go under and no one would have a job at all. Untrue. And then these employers “encouraged” their employees to speak up, likely handing them the phone while they were still on the clock.
Any lawmaker capable of leading in this chaotic moment in our country would at least have the sense to ask a few questions (after thanking the caller profusely for their civic participation):
- Sounds like you’re worried. Did your employer tell you this law would end tips? Did your employer tell you that your hours might be cut or that you might lose your job if this policy went into effect?
- Did you know you will still get tips on top of a full wage? Did you know that servers in One Fair Wage states make more than servers in other states?
- Are you worried about repercussions from your employer if you don’t support their position?
The first time I saw one of the Save Our Tips servers speak at a hearing, I was taken with how enthusiastically they argued against their own self-interest. It just seemed… over the top. I found myself wondering if any of the people there were getting paid. If what we heard in the ladies room in Lansing this week is true, the answer is yes and the going rate is $150.
How is it possible that I know this and that Sen. Winnie Brinks doesn’t?
By the way, these lawmakers insist that keeping the tip credit will still guarantee servers the full minimum wage because apparently wage theft doesn’t exist and employers are always happy to make up the difference. A few questions on that point: Have you ever spoken to an actual human server who complained to her employer when her tips didn’t cover the statutory minimum or spoken to a restaurant owner who paid the difference? And if you have, were they petting a unicorn?
Please call these two people today. Yes, calls are better than email. Calls with a follow-up email are even better.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer:
Office phone: 517-373-3400
Email: [email protected]
Message: Please urge Gov. Whitmer to stop the madness, protect the Constitution, save the raise, and prepare a fiery “smart capitalism” speech to give Friday about the fact that fair pay is good for business and great for America. If she needs some talking points, she can read Patriotic Millionaires’ new book Pay the People! Why Fair Pay is Good for Business and Great for America, which we are hand-delivering to every state lawmaker in Michigan today.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks:
Office phone: 517-373-1801
Email: [email protected]
Message: Please urge Sen. Brinks to heed the warning of top lawyers that amending the current law before it has gone into effect is unconstitutional. Ask her to allow the $2/hr raise to go into effect on Friday, February 21st, as scheduled and then push her to table any effort to weaken the state’s wage floor indefinitely or at least until the next legislative session in 2027, after the people of Michigan have had a chance to see the real-life effect of a law they fought tirelessly for years to have enacted. Nothing can pass in a split legislature, so unless Sen. Brinks actively pursues a weaker wage floor, there won’t be one. And if Michigan voters really want to make less money and have less economic stability, they can make that clear at the voting booth in next year’s elections.