A South Shore restaurant worker is going viral on social media after she made the case against a November 2024 ballot question.
MaryKathryn McLaughlin, a bartender at Mia Regazza in Abington and Marshfield, both south of Boston, urged people to vote against Question 5 in Massachusetts this November in an August 31 Facebook post that now has more than 1,600 shares.
Ballot Question 5 in Massachusetts this November asks voters whether or not the state should raise its tipped minimum wage from $6.75 an hour to match the state’s minimum wage by 2029 (currently $15 an hour). Currently, if a tipped worker’s employer pay plus tips doesn’t add up to $15 an hour at the end of a shift, the employer has to make up the difference, according to Mass.gov. However, the amount the employer must pay to make up the difference varies and, in many cases, the tipped worker makes more than $15 an hour on their own.
Additionally, the ballot question would also let restaurants administer tip pools that include all of the restaurant’s employees, including non-tipped workers. Currently, restaurant tip pools in Massachusetts can only include workers, like waiters, bartenders, and service employees like bussers and food runners; that means that managers, bouncers, cooks, dishwashers, and hostesses are not a part of these tip pools.
McLaughlin argued that waitstaff and bartenders work hard for their money and that the government shouldn’t enact policies that would reduce tipped pay for bartenders and waiters/waitresses.
I’m not a political person but I have to say something real quick ….
Until you’ve worked a busy Friday when you’re down a bus boy, you have service slips for 2 espresso martinis, one light, one dark, a margarita with sugar, a rusty nail and, oh joy — a frozen mudslide. Someone broke a glass near the ice but not sure if any got in it — have to dump it. Barback is getting new ice but now you have to clear the dirty bar as a couple sits directly in the dirty seats even though you sweetly asked — just let me clear that first. What can I get you to drink? Do you have fresh mint? Crap. Table 30 needs a gluten free menu. The expo yells 86 prime rib — [expletive], do they have the ones I just put in? Hostess double sat you, it’s okay I can swing by on the way to drop off table 33s check. Now your regulars just came in with big smiles and are waving you over to show you their pictures from Italy and hey, who has time to sing happy birthday to table 35? — until you’ve lived through this or cried in a walk in, don’t comment on my tips.
I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years but I am more than a bartender. I love my job but it’s hard work. My coworkers are my family, my regulars are my friends, and no one should put a price on my tips but them.
We didn’t make it through Covid to start this [expletive]. Get educated — vote no on 5!
McLaughlin added in a comment to a skeptic that she thinks it would lead to higher prices in restaurants and people tipping less.
“It would raise minimum wage therefore people will tip less,” she wrote. “So yes on paper I will make more an hour but peoples mindsets are that you are getting more an hour so we can tip less. In other states where this has passed it has shown people have tipped less than 10%. I would not be able to raise a family and would need another job. Also, restaurants are already taking a beating with product cost. If this passes they are required to pay each employee double what they do now. Some restaurants will need to cut staff to do this, others will raise menu prices to cover this, or they can’t do it and more restaurants will close.”
McLaughlin wrote this while replying to a user named Barbara Richmond Cullen.
“So a yes vote would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped employees plus get tips, a no vote will not raise the wage you will just get tips!” Cullen wrote. “So I need more explanation on why a no vote is better.”
Additionally, McLaughlin told NewBostonPost in a Facebook message that she’s surprised that her post is going viral, but she hopes people will take her advice.
“I’m very surprised with the response that my post has received,” McLaughlin wrote to New Boston Post. “My intention was to make people aware of this vote and hear about the pros and cons. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over 20 years, and I do believe if this vote passes, not only will I take a drastic pay cut, but the restaurant community as a whole will feel the repercussions. I’ve built a living based on performance and relationships, and although I don’t feel that will change, I do feel consumers will think twice about coming in if prices need to increase in order to cover payroll costs. My advice is to speak to your favorite server or bartender and see their thoughts are!”
One Fair Wage, an organization that seeks to end the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers nationwide, led the effort to get Question 5 on the ballot
The organization contends that tipped workers deserve the same minimum wage as everyone else — plus tips.
“Big restaurant corporations are not paying their fair share and are forcing consumers to cover their employees’ wages through tips,” One Fair Wage wrote on its ballot question committee web site. “Tips should be a reward for good service, not a subsidy for low wages paid by large corporations.”
Additionally, the organization argues that all restaurant workers should get a share of the tips given to bartenders and waiters.
“Restaurants and bars will have the option of including back-of-house workers in tip pools, bringing Massachusetts up to the federal standard, increasing teamwork within restaurant staff, and lifting up all workers,” One Fair Wage wrote.
Voters will decide the fate of this ballot question on Tuesday, November 5.
New to NewBostonPost? Conservative media is hard to find in Massachusetts. But you’ve found it. Now dip your toe in the water for two bucks — $2 for two months. And join the real revolution.
Photo by Sarah Gilbert / Flickr 
