EVERETT, Wash. — Businesses and their employees are struggling right now.
Dealing with the post-pandemic economy, inflation and the demand for rising wages restaurants have their plates full.
"Consumers are really tapped out," said Kerri Lonergan-Dreke, CEO of Lombardi's restaurants.
Higher prices mean the need for higher wages which forces businesses to raise prices and the cycle repeats.
Voters in Everett will soon decide the future of the minimum wage part of that equation.
Initiative 24-01 mandates employers offer additional hours to part-time workers before hiring new ones and prohibits retaliation against employees who complain if that doesn't happen.
It would also raise the minimum wage to $20.24 per hour. That's a 24% increase from the current rate of $16.28.
Initiative 24-02 would do the same thing except employers would be allowed to count tips toward that new minimum wage.
Restaurant owners said rising wages mean higher prices, lower sales and ultimately fewer jobs.
Lonergan-Dreke said raising the minimum wage without allowing employers to factor in tips would have an immediate impact.
"We will be eliminating voluntary tipping and move to an 18-20% service charge like Seattle residents have had to do," Lonergan-Dreke said. That, or we raise our prices accordingly."
Labor leaders said tips are incentives and bonuses for good work, and they should not be touched.
Labor said a standard minimum wage makes it easier for people scraping by to know where they stand.
"Tips are never guaranteed and you can't bank on them," said Charlotte Murry of the Snohomish County Labor Council. "At the end of the day you know you're getting a certain wage you know what you have to work with within your budget."
If approved by voters, the new minimum wage would take effect July 1, 2025, for businesses with 500 or more employees.
It would be phased in over two years for businesses with 15 to 499 employees. The measure would not affect businesses with fewer than 15 employees making $2 million or less.
Murry said 26% of the people living in Snohomish County fell behind in 2022 when they missed a single paycheck.
According to Murry, to not fall behind the average person in the county would need to earn $72,000 per year.
Even with the higher minimum wage, a full-time worker would only bring in $42,000 annually.
After taxes that would be $37,000, annually. Murray said the average person in the county pays $21,000 a year in rent.
"I mean when you're having to spend $21,000 a year on housing, that doesn't leave a whole lot to work with to provide food and transportation, let alone if you have children," Murry said.
The heat in the kitchen is turning up as election day approaches and concerns over the economy simmer.
"If we're going to be raising the minimum wage, I think we need to take a time out and let things settle," Lonergan-Dreke said. "I mean, we are going to see a lot more businesses lay off people, reduce hours and go out of business."
"They have been successful in raising wages in places like SeaTac and we haven't seen businesses collapse," Murry said. "We know this can work."
Since the initiatives are running independently and not directly against each other, it is possible both could pass with a 51% majority. If that happens, the City of Everett said the initiative with the most number of votes in favor will be declared the winner.