Sam Gurwitt Photo
Robyn Porter with constituents at Three Brothers.
Twenty hours after State Rep. Robyn Porter led the charge to get a $15 minimum wage through the Connecticut House of Representatives, she sat with constituents in the Three Brothers Diner relishing a years-in-the-making victory. The victory was checked only by a compromise proponents had to make, which exempted from the raise the servers bringing plates of eggs and toast.
The Connecticut House started its debate at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, and didn’t vote until 12 p.m. on Thursday. Porter, who represents portions of Hamden and New Haven, was on the floor the whole time. She came to Three Brothers Friday on two and a half hours of sleep.
Working to raises to $11 in October for 332,000 workers, ramping up to $15 by 2023, was worth it, she said.
“It’s kind of surreal right now,” she said. “I know what happened, but I’m coming into the fullness of what we were able to do.”
The State Senate still needs to pass the bill, which would then go to the governor for a final signature. Porter said that if the bill passes, it will give people in her district spending power and dignity and address income inequality.
Though Thursday’s vote was a major victory, proponents like Porter did not get everything they wanted. The process of winning enough votes to pass the bill included a compromise that denied the wage increase to tip-earners like restaurant workers.
Servers currently earn $6.38 per hour, and bartenders earn $8.23. Tips are supposed to make up the difference between those wages and the minimum wage. When they don’t, Porter said, businesses are supposed to make up for that difference, but that doesn’t always happen.
Porter said she wanted to raise the bartender wage to $12.23 by 2023, but that was one place she had to compromise. If server wages don’t increase by 2023, tips will have to make up the difference between $15 and $6.38 and $8.23 for servers and bartenders respectively
“I had to swallow it because I couldn’t sacrifice those 332,000 who will get a raise,” she said.
For the wait staff at Three Brothers, over the Hamden line on Dixwell Avenue, that raise would help.
Joanie Smith, who served plates of eggs and toast to Porter’s constituents Friday morning, said that tips often don’t even make up the difference between the “seven and change” she’s paid and the state’s current $10.10 minimum wage. She said it used to, but not anymore.
“[People] don’t tip the servers as much as they used to,” she said. “I’m not making as much money as I was ten years ago.”
Friday morning was not a good one for her. From the table with Porter’s eight constituents she said she earned $4. (Porter herself did not order food).
The week before, State Sen. George Logan held a similar breakfast event. Anibal Bibal, who served that table, said he had made $5.
“Food. Extra Food”
Robert Boyd.
Workers in Porter’s district said that a $15 minimum wage would make a big difference.
Robert Boyd, who works at the Burger King on Dixwell slightly south of the Three Brothers Diner, said that the current $10.10 wage is not enough for him because he’s married.
The raise “would help out a lot with expenses and stuff. It would help out quite a lot,” he told the Independent. He doesn’t work full time at Burger King, and he said he usually makes somewhere between $600 and $700 a month there. But his rent is around $1,300.
How do he and his wife get by?
“Struggling. Just barely by the skin of our teeth.” He said his wife also works, and he tries to take on side jobs whenever he can.
What would he be able to afford with a $15 hourly wage?
“Food. Extra food.”
Across the street at Dunkin’ Donuts, a worker who asked that her name not be used said $15 would definitely help. She and her boyfriend pay around $950 in monthly rent, After all of her bills are taken care of, she has about $20-$30 a week she can spend on herself.
“It gets me by, so I can’t complain.”
In the debate on the House floor, Republicans argued that a wage increase would hurt small business owners.
Porter said that she had spoken to business owners in her district, and that “they say, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ And I understand that mentality. Because when you have to make a way out of no way,” you make it work.
In addition, she said, a raised “minimum wage is a revenue driver,” she added. “Wage growth equals economic growth.”
Edmund Funaro.
Edmund Funaro, owner of Visel’s Pharmacy on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven, said that he would be fine.
“Any increase in overhead is potentially detrimental to the business, but we’ll make do. We want to make sure everyone has a fair wage,” he said. “My bottom line is we try to make sure we take care of our staff and are equitable.”
The owner of a nearby business, who asked that his business not be named, had a less optimistic view.
“I’m not against minimum wages. because people need to make enough money,” he said. But, he added, “my revenue cannot compensate my employees at $15 an hour.” He said that in order for his business to survive with a $15 wage, he would need the economy to grow, which he said he doesn’t see happening in Connecticut.
Porter said last Thursday’s vote was a major step in improving equity in the state, though she said that ultimately she would like to see major systematic change, starting with those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
“You start on the ground. You start with the people that are impacted. I believe that the power has to be close to the pain,” she said. Otherwise, conditions for those most in need will not change.
“The tide does not lift all boats. All yachts maybe, but not all boats.”
Just a $4.00 tip from a party of eight? Lolz.
Looking forward, does anyone know the math in the Senate? Will this make it to the Governor's desk? And where does Governor Lamont stand?