Eliminating tip credit could doom industry

In the restaurant industry, I have done just about every job you can do, from cooking, to serving to management. And now after nearly a decade in the business, I choose to be a server. That’s because of the flexibility, satisfaction and money it provides. Now I’m worried that will soon change due to a lawsuit.

There’s a lot of discussion about eliminating the tipped wage credit, forcing servers and bartenders to settle for the standard minimum wage amount set for every other industry. The intention may be to give me more money, but, instead, I will make less.

Through my hard work and relationships with my customers, I can earn at least $20 an hour with tips, even on the slowest days. It’s often north of $30 an hour. Once the tipped wage is taken away, and customers see us as standard minimum wage workers, they will be less likely to tip their normal amount, knowing I make more on my paycheck.

That’s not to mention their food and drink costs will sky rocket. A restaurant, already working on slim margins, will have to cover those new labor costs somehow. That will be seen in higher menu prices, service charges or even job cuts. There are no other options.

A lot of ‘mom and pop’ shops barely survived getting through the pandemic. They’re barely getting through inflationary price increases for every product they have to buy. How will they handle doubling or tripling labor costs? For many, they cannot and will simply close their doors.

Take it from people like me who work in this industry daily. If the court rules against the tipped wage system, it will kill the service industry here in Michigan.

It would do the opposite of what it claims by causing our income to be cut — if we are able to keep our jobs at all.

— Ashley Greco Harrison Twp.