Massachusetts
Massachusetts ballot questions 2024: Question 5 on the tipped minimum wage – The Boston Globe
The ballot question would also allow tips to be pooled with workers who do not interact with customers directly, including cooks, bookkeepers, and other back-of-house staff.
A yes vote would raise the tipped minimum wage over five years with the first increase lifting the floor to $9.60 an hour next year. Employers that pay tipped workers at least the state minimum wage could then pool tips with all employees, if they choose. Massachusetts would become one of seven states without a tipped wage.
A no vote would keep the hourly tipped minimum wage at $6.75 — above the $2.13 federal minimum wage for tipped workers, but below the Massachusetts minimum wage of $15. Sharing tips with workers who do not talk to customers would not be permitted.
Who is backing each side?
One Fair Wage, an advocacy organization lobbying for higher tipped wages nationwide, brought the ballot question to Massachusetts after similar campaigns in Michigan and Washington D.C. They have supported the campaign largely alone, spending roughly $1 million, along with support from fewer than two dozen local progressive groups and some restaurant employees.
Campaigning against them is a cadre of restaurateurs and trade groups, including the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and Mass Restaurants United. They believe raising the tipped minimum wage would deal businesses, already struggling with rising costs and the post-pandemic recovery, a catastrophic blow. Many restaurant employees themselves oppose the measure out of fear that it would reduce the tips they receive.
What do those in favor say?
Proponents of Question 5 say that a $15 tipped minimum wage is a win for all. Eliminating the current system, they argue, would lessen financial instability for restaurant workers and save them from dependence upon customers’ generosity. And pooling tips with the entire workforce could be a boon for the lowest-paid employees.
Other places that implemented a higher minimum wage saw upticks in “restaurant job growth rates, small business growth rates, and tipping averages,” according to One Fair Wage. Research from Tufts University and University of Massachusetts Amherst has found that getting rid of the lower minimum wage for tipped workers, as the question suggests, actually raises wages overall for these workers — many of whom are low-income, women, or people of color.
“It’s time we end the injustice of the subminimum wage and create an industry that truly values and compensates its workers with dignity,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage.
What do those opposed say?
The “No” camp fears that raising the tipped minimum wage will force restaurants to raise menu prices, or worse, close entirely.
Food and labor costs have risen astronomically since the pandemic began, pushing throngs of restaurants to the brink of survival. Many owners now believe the tipped wage measure would add to the burden. Should the question pass, businesses could pay an additional $18,000 in payroll per employee by 2029, according to calculations from Mass Restaurants United. (The UMass study found that business cost increases from the measure would be “modest.”)
And many restaurant staff worry the change would lead them to earn less money, too. Dozens told the Globe that American tipping culture is fraught already, and that customers would likely leave smaller tips if they knew workers’ wages were increasing. Some take issue, too, with One Fair Wage and believe the national group skirted the opinions of workers on the ground when debuting the measure in Massachusetts.
Opponents cite the history of the measure as proof. The Maine legislature restored the state’s lower minimum wage for tipped workers a year after it was eliminated in a similar ballot question, and the process of phasing out the tipped wage in D.C. has proven bumpy and shrank the size of the restaurant workforce.
Behind the battle for a $15 minimum wage
Hillary Clinton endorses raising minimum wage for tipped workers in Mass.
Voters will decide five ballot questions in November. Here’s a look at who is spending big for and against them.
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_.
Massachusetts
How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?
With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.
So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?
An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.
Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.
While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.
Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.
“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.
GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.
Massachusetts
Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News
EASTON, Mass. (WBZ) — Police body camera video shows an Easton, Massachusetts, officer rescuing a 78-year-old Raynham man from a burning car on Friday morning.
A Mack dump truck was experiencing problems on the side of Turnpike Street just after 2 a.m. when a Ford pickup truck struck the back of it, according to police.
The pickup truck then became stuck under the dump truck, trapping the driver, Francis Leverone, inside. A Toyota Camry then hit the back of the pickup truck and caught fire, police said.
Easton police officer Dean Soucie arrived at the crash and saw that the two vehicles were on fire. Video shows Soucie rushing over before breaking the driver’s side window and then, with the help of the two witnesses, freeing Leverone from the pickup truck. Soucie said he was confused but conscious.
“As I reached inside the vehicle, one of the passersby — he actually jumped into the cab of the truck, and he helped me free the individual,” Soucie said.
They then carried the driver to safety.
Leverone was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a Boston hospital. He received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
No one else was injured in the crash.
Dee Leverone told WBZ her husband is doing OK. “I’m just thankful for the people that got him out,” she said. “Very thankful.”
After watching the police body-cam video on the news she said, “I was shocked, I was like ‘Oh my God!’ I just couldn’t believe it. His truck is like melted.”
She says she realized that something was wrong last night when her husband never made it home from work.
“I kept trying to call him and call him, and I finally got a hold of him at like 4:30 a.m., and he was at (Good Samaritan Hospital) and he told me he’s gotten in an accident,” Dee said.
She says he’s recovering at the Boston Medical Center and being treated for a dislocated hip.
“He’s a trooper,” Dee said. “He’s a strong man — and you know he’s 78, but you know he’s a toughie. He definitely is a toughie.”
Soucie commended the help of the two witnesses and said that before he arrived at the crash, they had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and removed a gasoline tank from the pickup truck before it could ignite.
“They jumped into action like it was nothing,” Soucie said. “Those two individuals were absolutely awesome.”
Easton Police Chief Keith Boone said that he is “extremely proud” of Soucie and the witnesses.
“He saved a life last night,” Chief Boone said. “He is an exemplary police officer and this is just one example. I think he’s a hero.”
Turnpike Street was closed for several hours following the crash. Easton Police are investigating.
=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https://www.eastidahonews.com/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”>
Massachusetts
Crews battle fire at Townsend home
A fire broke out Sunday morning in Townsend, Massachusetts.
The Townsend Fire department said shortly before 7 a.m. that firefighters were on scene for a structure fire on Dudley Road.
People have been asked to avoid the area.
The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services said state police fire investigators assigned to the state fire marshal’s office are responding to assist the Townsend Fire Department.
There was no immediate word on any injuries, or any information on what caused the fire. It’s also unclear if the large snow piles in the area impeded access to fire hydrants, as was the case at the house explosion in Taunton last week.
This developing story will be updated when we learn more
-
World5 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts5 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Denver, CO5 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Technology1 week agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Politics1 week agoOpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT
-
Technology1 week agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making
-
News1 week agoWorld reacts as US top court limits Trump’s tariff powers