One Fair Wage is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

that is led by

Saru Jayaraman Sarumathi "Saru" Jayaraman (born April 3, 1975) is an American attorney, author, and activist from Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. She is an advocate for fair wages for restaurant workers and other service workers in the United States. I ...

and Fekkak Mamdouh for restaurant workers to end the sub-minimum wage for tip workers who make less than the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

before tips.

History

The One Fair Wage campaigns to improve tipped wage laws by advocating for higher wages in a number of states including

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

California and six other states already have One Fair Wage. One Fair Wage, chaired by Alicia Renee Farris, is trying to raise the minimum wage in Michigan to $12 an hour by 2022, and to $12 an hour by 2024 for tipped workers. The issue was brought to the General Election ballot on the November 2018. The Michigan

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

opposed the plan. In 2020, following the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

crisis, One Fair Wage began campaigning to raise money for restaurant wage workers who lost their jobs due to restaurant closures.

Campaigns

In January 2023, One Fair Wage and ''The New York Times'' exposed the

National Restaurant Association The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the United States, representing more than 380,000 restaurant locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The associa ...

for using worker-funded food training program ServSafe to lobby against workers pay increases at the state and federal levels. As a result, the California State Senate has passed legislation to require employers to pay for the training, not workers, and is now headed to a vote in the Assembly.

Median wage data

From the

US Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of ...

is this wage info (includes tips):

Controversy

The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee investigated the IRS's treatment of One Fair Wage (OFW), to determine if it received undue tax benefits as a non-profit organization. The investigation, led by Rep. James Comer, centered on whether OFW’s significant lobbying activity, which is prohibited for tax-exempt charities, conflicts with its status under 501(c)(3). In a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, Comer cited OFW's public acknowledgment of its lobbying mission and called for a review of the IRS's handling of non-profits, requesting correspondence with OFW and related training materials by February 28, 2024.

References

{{authority control Political advocacy groups in the United States