NEW JERSEY– In response to the announcement that Assemblywoman Shavonda Sumter and fellow legislators will amend Assembly Bill 1972, which raises the minimum wage earned by tipped workers, the Raise New Jersey Coalition issued the following statement:

“The fight to raise pay in New Jersey must leave no worker behind, especially not the nearly 200,000 New Jersey workers who receive a paltry $2.13 tipped sub-minimum wage. New Jersey matches the lowest minimum wage in the nation for tipped workers and has one of the fastest growing poverty rates among the working poor. Raising the wages of New Jersey’s tipped workers, a majority of whom are women, would be an important step towards ensuring the 1.2 million workers and their families who are paid below $15 per hour can finally earn a wage they can live on. We commend Assemblywoman Sumter and her fellow sponsors for their efforts, and we urge legislative leadership to take action and raise pay for all underpaid New Jerseyans before year’s end.”

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Raise NJ is a coalition organized by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. It advocates for an inclusive increase of the state minimum wage to $15, leaving no worker behind.