August 11, 2023

Customers React to Rise in Service Charges Around the Country

Restaurant owners and their employees have warned that state and local attempts to eliminate tip credits will lead to negative consequences for their earnings and restaurants. Most recently, the District of Columbia took the plunge to begin eliminating its tip credit, despite warnings from concerned owners and employees. When voters…
July 28, 2023

Progressives Prop Up Sanders’ $17 Wage with Bogus Data

Whether in support of local, state, or federal minimum wage hikes, you can count on progressive “researchers” to produce data reports overwhelmingly in favor. The integrity of these reports is less appealing than their conclusions. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Bobby Scott’s introduction of the Raise the Wage Act of…
District of Columbia July 21, 2023

Initiative 82 Organizer Blasts One Fair Wage As a “Fraud”

While anti-tip credit activists with One Fair Wage touted past wins ahead of a push to eliminate Chicago’s tip credit, other formerly affiliated groups are throwing a flag on the play. One Fair Wage president Saru Jayaraman spoke at the progressive Netroots Nation conference where Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson brandished…
July 14, 2023

Eliminating Chicago’s Tip Credit Will Hurt Mayor Johnson’s Teen Employment Priorities

As minimum wage and anti-tip credit proposals sputter to a halt at the federal and state levels, Chicago appears to be one of the last remaining targets this year for tip credit elimination. One Fair Wage has announced a $25 million campaign to eliminate tip credits across the country, and…
July 7, 2023

New Study Finds Wage Hikes May Contribute to Homelessness

For decades, economists have found minimum wage hikes have cost jobs and livelihoods. Many studies also find these mandates are poorly targeted to lift people out of poverty. Now a new study shows local minimum wage increases may also increase homelessness. Dr. Seth Hill of University of California-San Diego compares…
June 30, 2023

DC’s Second Wage Hike This Year Will Double Pain for Restaurants

While District of Columbia residents celebrate the Independence Day holiday weekend, the city’s restaurants will be quietly saddled with yet another minimum wage hike. On July 1, D.C. will raise the tipped minimum wage again up to $8 per hour, after a previous increase to $6 per hour…
June 23, 2023

New Data: $15 Wage Bill To Kill 86,000 Jobs in Pennsylvania

Lawmakers in Harrisburg are proposing drastic changes to the state minimum wage. One such proposal, HB 1500, would raise the regular minimum wage up to $15.00 per hour, while also raising the tipped minimum wage to $9.00 per hour, a more-than 200 percent increase. A large majority of economic research…
June 16, 2023

SEIU Leans on Research “House of Cards” To Encroach on Restaurant Industry

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been attacking restaurants for years in efforts to gain a foothold for organizing the industry. In its latest attempt, the SEIU filed a public comment brief with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) citing all of its reasons current franchising agreements are “harmful.”…
June 9, 2023

Kicking off Summer with More Minimum Wage Hikes Across the Country

As more states and cities institute wage hikes and inflation adjustments, July 1 is becoming more and more prominent as a wage increase deadline every year. This year, 24 states and cities will see minimum wage hikes effective July 1, many of them due to inflation adjustments. This comes as…
June 2, 2023

Fact Checking Sen. Sanders’ $17 Announcement

In a press conference outside the U.S. capitol earlier in May, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he would introduce a new bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour. In a recent op-ed in The Guardian, Sanders suggested a $17 per hour minimum wage was “the right…