Group rallies around proposed Senate bill that would raise hourly wages for tipped workers in Maryland

BALTIMORE - A group rallied in Annapolis Thursday to end sub-minimum wage for tipped workers.

As Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pushes to speed up the process of raising minimum wage to $15 per hour, a group of advocates want to make sure service workers are a part of the conversation.

In Maryland, tipped workers are paid a little more than $3 per an hour.

That doesn't sound like much, but it doesn't include tips, which make up the majority of their income.

A coalition of service industry workers believe the hourly wage is not enough, and they are asking to be paid the full minimum wage, plus tips on top.

State Senator Arthur Ellis (D-District 28) joined an organization called "One Fair Wage" outside the Maryland State House to announce a bill that would raise their base pay on Thursday. 

Ellis is sponsoring Senate Bill 803 which would phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers in Maryland, which currently sits at $3.63 per hour.

That doesn't include tips, which can vary depending on the day. 

"To have that variable wage depend on so many other conditions, it's unfair to these workers," Ellis said. 

Ellis' bill would increase the subminimum wage to match Maryland's regular minimum wage. Right now, the minimum wage is $13.25 an hour and set to climb to $14 an hour next year. 

Alexus Snovitch said her employer, Mera Kitchen Collective, in Baltimore, is already doing that.

She told WJZ that she makes above minimum wage plus tips on top. She said it is nice because not everyone tips.

"I think it gives them a reason to come to work because they have a wage to work for, a reason to come, and we all work together," Snovitch said. 

But not all service industry workers are making minimum wage.

Some worry they will actually make less money if this bill goes through.

Server Elena James said she makes about $25 to $30 per hour in tips. 

 "If we get our tips taken away, we literally make less money, almost half the money, that we make with the same amount of work and it's just not fair," James said. 

James told WJZ she believes if labor gets more expensive for restaurant owners, they will have to reduce hours and that will ultimately trickle down and cut into her take-home pay. 

 "Because that's more cost for the store," James said. "Then overtime, time and a half is over $20 an hour, which is what we currently make already and at less cost to the establishment."