TOLEDO, Ohio —
A $15 minimum wage could be coming to Ohio.
There are currently two minimum wages in the state.
The sub-minimum wage for tipped workers is $5.25. The broader minimum wage is $10.45.
Efforts to get a wage increase on the 2024 ballot failed.
One Fair Wage, the organization trying to get the measure on the ballot, collected enough signatures to meet requirements but did not meet the county requirement.
To be considered, petitions must have at least 413,456 signatures, with signatures from at least 44 of the 88 Ohio counties.
"When you give people who make the least amount of money more money, they spend it on their families, on food," Mariah Ross, ballot initiative director of One Fair Wage said. "They spend it on something they've put off buying for a long time. It goes right back into the local economy and then it trickles up."
But not everyone is on board with bringing up the wage.
John Barker, the resident and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance said they've been working since late 2023 to fight an increase.
"When you talk to the servers, 93% of them came back and said, 'We don't want that,'" Barker said. "And the average restaurant was telling us they would have to raise prices around 20 to 25%. That's on top of the inflation we have right now."
Barker said an increase would actually cost servers money.
"Which is the opposite of what you would think initially because you're talking about setting a minimum wage but you would be eliminating the whole tip credit, which servers have done really well on," Barker said.
According to Ross and One Fair Wage, tips aren't going anywhere.
"There's no sub-minimum wage. There's no $5.25 plus tips. There's only $15 plus tips," Ross explained.
Michael Knight, who owns Home Slice Pizza in downtown Toledo said, like himself, many people already start their staff above the current minimum and make increases for retention or based on performance.
For smaller restaurants in northwest Ohio though, he said diners could feel a gradual impact on their wallets.
"Their margins are thinner. It probably would be looking at a price increase for them if they had to raise everyone's wages by two or three dollars," Knight said. "Which doesn't seem like a lot but if you break it down seven days a week, two or three shifts, that adds up."
Barker said the Alliance will continue to campaign against One Fair Wage's effort, even if it does land on the ballot and is voted on in 2025.
In the meantime, Ross said One Fair Wage is about to ramp up efforts for signatures.
They plan to post up at public libraries in northwest Ohio to continue their fight starting Aug. 2.