Flagstaff Needs a Raise - Vote NO to STOP the PAY CUTS

10/09/2024

ATTENTION ARIZONA TIPPED WORKERS: Federal regulations (known as the “80/20/30 Rule”) explain that employers may only pay the tipped minimum wage for hours where you provided customers with service for which you received tips or where you directly supported tip-producing work for less than a substantial amount of time. Thus, if you spend more than 20% of the hours in a workweek or more than 30 minutes at a time on tasks directly supporting tipped work, that time must be paid at the full minimum wage rate. That 20% is measured as a proportion of the workweek for which the employer is claiming the tipped credit, which may look different than your workweek overall.

Tasks that are not tip-producing or do not directly support tip-producing work include preparing the restaurant to open, closing the restaurant, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, and others. For all these tasks, the employer must pay at least the full minimum wage no matter how much time you spend on them.

Folding napkins, refilling salt and pepper shakers and condiment bottles, rolling silverware, and vacuuming under the tables in the dining room are examples of tasks directly supporting tip-producing work, and the employer may pay you the tipped wage as long as you are not doing these tasks for a substantial amount of time as explained above.

Follow this link https://www.catchfiremovement.org/know_your_rights to learn about your rights and how to file a complaint in Arizona.

09/16/2024

Message us if you are a tipped worker in Flagstaff and are interested in attending a Know Your Rights seminar.

09/08/2024

Outside of Flagstaff, in AZ tipped workers make $11.35 because the state law allows employers to pay the whole $3 below the minimum wage. In Flagstaff, we, the voters, passed a one fair wage provision in our local minimum wage ordinance. It means that today, tipped workers get paid $15.90 and they will get paid the full minimum in just over 1 year from now on 1.1.2026. But that will only happen if, once again, we reject the corporate class attack on workers and say NO to 138, which would cut tipped wage across the state and in Flagstaff.

The two-wage system leads to rampant wage theft in the restaurant industry because workers often times don’t have access to detail accounting on tips earned and/or managers and owners take tips from workers illegally. Illegal tip pools, not getting paid properly for non-tip producing work, and harassment are also common.

The prop 138 put on the ballot but Arizona Republican lawmakers is not just a proposal to amend our state statutes. It would enshrine in Arizona constitution that employers can pay tipped workers 25 percent less than the full minimum wage! We would not be able to change this locally and it would be almost impossible to reverse at the state level through an initiative process. Prop 138 is a huge legislative over-reach and it cuts wages of the most vulnerable workers. Most tipped workers don’t work at high end restaurants where tips can be quite lucrative. Most tip workers are barely getting by working at Olive Gardens, Applebees and other chains. Vote NO on 138. Stand up for workers and against their corporate bosses. Show your solidarity and vote NO on 138 this November. Share widely and if you have a story as a tip worker, message us.

08/07/2024

Here we go again. Arizona’s Republican legislators put on the November ballot a constitutional amendment (Prop 138) that would allow employers to pay tipped workers 25% less than the full minimum wage!

The proposed tipped wage under Prop 138 would be less than the current state tipped rate (already at $3 below the regular minimum wage) and significantly less than the rate established by the Flagstaff minimum wage ordinance, which is phasing out the exploitative subminimum tipped wage completely.

Help us fight back! Not only is the two-wage system largely responsible for rampant wage theft in the restaurant industry, but it also makes tipped workers more vulnerable to sexual harassment and discrimination.

Prop 138 is extremely dangerous because we, the voters, can't easily change it in the future. While legislators can simply put a constitutional amendment on the ballot through their legislative process, as citizens to qualify a ballot measure amending Arizona's constitution, we would have to collect 383,923 valid signatures—and that is almost prohibitively high.

The constitutional amendment would not only lower tipped workers' wages across Arizona but also in Flagstaff, where voters approved eliminating the subminimum tipped wage TWICE!

Under prop 138, today's tipped wage of $15.90 would be reduced to just $13.05!

We need your help today to protect working families and fight back the corporate restaurant lobby, working overtime to keep the industry wages and worker protections low.

03/29/2024

Arizona Republicans, supported by some in the hospitality industry (those who are anti-labor) and the other NRA (National Restaurant Association), are advancing to voters a constitutional amendment that would allow employers to pay tipped workers 25% less than the minimum wage. This would trump our local Flagstaff minimum wage ordinance passed by voters, which will have required employers to pay tipped workers the full minimum wage by January 2026.

Let's unite working-class families and workers who are the local economy's bedrock and deserve a living wage, comprehensive benefits, safety, and dignity!

We will not let exploitative labor policies become law without a fight. If you want to stay informed about this and help organize in Flagstaff, please sign up. https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/PtqwjyF/FLGworkers

03/20/2024

Big thanks to al Flagstaffians who showed up at the City Council last night and for all the thoughtful comments in support of ceasefire. Amazingly, the councilmembers agreed to continue the conversation and will consider our ceasefire petition at a future meeting.

300 Flagstaff residents have already signed our resolution petition that will be the point of the Council’s future discussion. I encourage you to sign it and ask your friends to sign it. The diverse voices that chose to speak up last night showed that peace is what our Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Indigenous and other communities value and want. We were reminded of John Running’s trip and memories recorded in his book from talking with Palestinians who have faced the same oppression when he had visited their homeland decades ago.

Please sign, share, and if you have something to say, please reply here. If you are not in Flagstaff but want to organize your community asking your City Council to pass a ceasefire resolution, get in touch with me and I will help you. 70+ cities are joining the majority of the world and the majority of Americans (across the political spectrum) who call for ceasefire. This is a tool we have to pressure Biden’s administration and Congress to stop supporting genocide. If Biden doesn’t wake up soon, he is going to lose the election in November and he is being warned.

In Arizona in the presidential preferencial election yesterday, he lost more votes from his Democratic voters, than the margin with which he won the 2020 election. Everything is in his hands and we need to keep up the pressure to do the right thing.

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/IesW0UV/ceasefire

Support a petition asking for resolution of the Flagstaff City Council in support of ceasefire.

09/24/2023

Who knew that the same consulting company tied to the Koch brothers' dark money would be running a campaign in support of the development sprawl initiative (Prop 480), pretending it's about healthcare? They are saying that the hospital staff is overwhelmed and that a new building will solve that. That's a total nonsense. Hiring more healthcare staff, paying nurses and other professionals well, and providing good benefits is the solution, not building a hotel complex! We know voters will not buy the lies and just like they protected our local minimum wage law by saying NO to the Chamber-led attempted repeal, they will say NO to 480!

08/23/2022

If you are a restaurant worker, complete this Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United) survey and help create the first Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights. People working in the food service industry deserve a thriving life with thriving wages, healthcare, childcare, housing, paid sick leave and vacation, and much more. Add your voice here and become part of a national movement for dignity:

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02/25/2022

ALER: In 2016, in Flagstaff, voter passed a local minimum wage initiative. In 2018, voters defended it against the Chamber of Commerce-orchestrated attempt to repeal it. In 2020, Tucson voters passed their minimum wage initiative to help working families. On 2/23/2022, Republicans in the State House passed a bill that would refer to voters an amendment to the Constitution preempting cities and citizen initiatives from regulating wages and non-wage benefits. If the bill passes the Senate and if approved by voters in November, it would undo Flagstaff's (and Tucson's) local minimum wage and enable employers to cut wages and pay their workers only at the state-level rate. We believe voters in Arizona are smarter than voting to give up a local control, but we still have to get ready to engage in a costly state-wide campaign. Join our efforts. Sign up here: https://secure.everyaction.com/xbX1lEWh_kyNzD_IEvl9DQ2. Share with friends.

10/05/2021

We are super excited to share that Flagstaff was added to the Catalog as a case study for a good local policy that you, voters, passed and protected. Big shout out to all activists and partners for showing the world in . And a special thanks to Results for America for documenting our winding path to higher wages in Flagstaff. Read about the journey to progress here:

This site provides resources on evidence-based practices, programs, and policies designed to improve outcomes that drive upward economic mobility.