State Legislators don aprons and serve customers in an effort to increase minimum wages

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Beach visitors love to spend their hard-earned money at local establishments in the summer. However, restaurant servers in Maryland are not happy. Currently, they make $3.63 per hour + tips.

In Ocean City, state delegates got to step into the shoes of restaurant workers. Delegate Mike Rogers loved serving others. His time in the military made the experience Thursday easier.

“I don’t think people realize it is more than it appears to be. As someone who worked in a restaurant in high school, I have a huge appreciation for that.”

Lawmakers got to roll up their sleeves and donned aprons as part of the Server for an Hour event. The effort is to promote the elimination of tipped wage and increase the minimum from $15/hour to $20/hour.

Michelle Jeon is a server in Baltimore City and says it’s difficult living paycheck to paycheck: “I’ve had so much financial panic because it has been so varied, and I can’t rely on anything to pay me reliably,” said Jeon.

‘No tax on tips’ was a stipulation focused on in President Donald Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’ Many workers don’t earn enough to file income taxes.

Jeon is hoping for the Maryland General Assembly to support restaurant workers on the state level. She said that a ton has changed in America over the past few decades.

“I read some stuff recently, if we wanted to have the buying power they had in the 1970s. The national average would need to be about $60 dollars for us to have similar buying power. So it’s not nearly as close enough, but it’s a start.”

Joan hopes this event will shed light on the struggles of restaurant workers and promote potential legislative action.