Around New England

11 Massachusetts Mayors Come Out Against Tipped Worker Ballot Question

September 16, 2024

A coalition of mayors from various cities and towns across Massachusetts has announced opposition to a referendum seeking to raise the minimum wage of tipped workers such as waiters and waitresses, which will appear on the November ballot.

This group, representing communities from Haverhill to Brockton, voiced concerns about the proposed measure and its potential impact on local economies and workers, according to a press release from Protect Our Tips.

Eleven Massachusetts mayors have come out against Question 5, which seeks to raise the tipped minimum wage to match the state’s standard minimum wage by 2029 and permit tip pools that include all restaurant employees, not just tipped staff. 

These mayors argue that the changes would have detrimental effects on both tipped workers and local businesses.

Here is what some of them had to say:

• Melinda Barrett, Haverhill: “The restaurant industry is a cornerstone of our local economy, providing jobs and generating tax revenue. This ballot question would disrupt the system that currently works for servers, bartenders, and business owners who have said time and time again that they want to keep it the way it is. Vote No on 5 for the future of Haverhill and communities across the Commonwealth.”
• Gary Christensen, Malden: “This out-of-state ballot initiative is an approach that does not work for Massachusetts. Our tipping system has proven to be successful, and the majority of tipped employees prefer it. To ensure our local businesses can continue to prosper, vote NO in November.”
• J. Christian Dumais, Marlborough: “Marlborough alone has over 100 restaurants and other businesses whose employees rely on tipped wages. The current system of tipped wages works well for both employees and businesses. Changing that system would have devastating consequences for employees and small, family-owned restaurants specifically. I urge Marlborough residents and voters across the state to vote NO on Question 5.”
• Robert Hedlund, Weymouth: “Question 5 will force restaurants to raise prices and our servers and waitstaff will earn less. We need to help our tipped employees and restaurants, not make things harder, while making it even more expensive for everyone else.”
• Patrick Keefe, Revere: “The advocates of this ballot initiative fail to consider the real-world impacts on tipped workers and the businesses that employ them. If passed, Question 5 will hurt the very people it claims to help.”

The mayors opposing Question 5 emphasize that while the measure is intended to benefit tipped employees, it could ultimately reduce their take-home pay, increase costs for restaurants, and drive up prices for patrons, potentially leading to job losses and business closures.

The list of mayors opposing Question 5 is below:

• Melinda Barrett – Haverhill
• Gary Christensen – Malden
• Christian Dumais – Marlborough
• Robert Hedlund – Weymouth
• Patrick Keefe – Revere
• Nicole LaChapelle – Easthampton
• Michael Nicholson – Gardner
• Neil Perry – Methuen
• Joe Petty – Worcester
• Sean Reardon – Newburyport
• Robert Sullivan – Brockton

There are 47 mayors in the state, according to the Massachusetts Mayors’ Association.

The current tipped minimum wage in Massachusetts is $6.75 an hour. However, 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 his own.  

The Committee to Protect Tips, which these mayors support, supports preserving the current tipping system and mitigating potential negative effects of the proposed changes. 

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