By Sophia Oppedisano Editorial Staff I got my first restaurant job when I was 16 years old. I was hired as a host at a local restaurant. At such a young age, everything I knew about working in the food industry came from my parents, who met and fell in love at the TGI Fridays that was recently demolished right down the road on Route 9. My mother taught me to always say “behind” when moving through the restaurant and to master the specific assertive politeness needed to communicate effectively with customers. Eventually, I saw myself begin to master the art of learning by doing as I observed my coworkers and found a passion for customer service. I worked my way up from host to server and from server to bartender. Then, it was my father who taught me how to pour a measured ounce properly, and to always put a cocktail napkin down on the bar before setting a drink in front of a customer. Working in the food industry has given me the privilege of working for tips, something I feel that I have earned the right to collect after years of honing my skills to become the best service worker I can be. I was able to begin financially supporting myself and even buy my first car at 19, something I never dreamed of being able to do. For all my years in food service, I have worked with single mothers, teachers, retirees, and people with low-income jobs. These are people I consider friends and family, and I have witnessed firsthand the financial struggles they deal with. Tips allow those in the food industry to earn a liveable wage rather than be forced to live paycheck to paycheck on a biweekly schedule. Question 5 on the 2024 Massachusetts ballot proposes a law that would gradually increase the minimum hourly wage an employer must pay a tipped worker over the course of five years. Servers in Massachusetts currently earn $6.75 an hour, plus all tips earned during a shift. This does not mean we only earn $6.75 and suffer a seemingly low hourly wage. Current federal and state laws guarantee that any tipped worker is paid the current minimum wage rate of $15, but businesses can pay us as little as $6.75 an hour, provided tips make up or exceed the difference. More information can be found on the United States Department of Labor website. This allows most service workers to earn about $20-$40 an hour during the average shift. Under this proposed law, employers would be permitted to implement a “tip pool” that combines all customer tips and distributes them equally among all workers, including traditionally non-tipped workers such as kitchen staff who already earn an average of $20 an hour, according to Indeed. The tip pool will be entirely ineffective in restaurants, as many have 10 to 70 workers at a time, reducing any tips received to next to nothing for workers. Those in favor of voting yes will tell you that this law is proposed for fairness. They will argue that restaurant workers deserve a full minimum wage and tips from this proposed tip pool. They might also tell you that earning a wage that is subsidized by the amount of tips you earn is too unpredictable of a way to earn a living. But remember, we will still earn at least minimum wage no matter how much we earn in tips. Servers, bartenders, and other tipped employees firmly believe that this law will drastically change our compensation and the customer's dining-out experience. The wage we currently receive is what allows for lower menu prices, the absence of service fees, and small businesses to stay afloat. Voting yes will shutter many restaurants and create chaos for diners and workers alike. The rising costs may push customers to stop tipping altogether, forcing workers to rely on minimum wage alone. Before you go to the polls this Tuesday, I urge you to educate yourself. Read about all five ballot questions to make an informed decision. All questions are available on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website, sec.state.ma.us/. More information on voting no on Question 5 can be found on massrestaurantsunited.org. Turn up the lights and close out your tab, it’s last call on this election.