Minimum wage referendum ramps up signature collection efforts

Organizers are gearing up for their final push in a referendum campaign to undo Michigan’s 2025 minimum wage law. They held a series of events in southeast Michigan Friday featuring actress and activist Jane Fonda to get the word out.

The law, passed last February, will raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour next year. But it will also allow businesses to pay tipped workers, like servers and bartenders, half of what everyone else makes, once fully implemented in 2031.

It replaced a policy that would have also raised the minimum wage over time. But the original version would have created one base pay for all adults, regardless of whether they make tips.

The group behind the referendum, One Fair Wage, wants to bring it back after fighting for that higher pay for years. Tameka Ramsey is the group’s state director for Michigan.




https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-01-10/minimum-wage-referendum-ramps-up-signature-collection-efforts