Washington D.C. Restaurant Workers

The fight

OFW is co-leading Initiative 87 — a $25/hour minimum wage for all D.C. workers, with no subminimum carve-outs for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, or any other category. Tipped workers would be at 100% of the floor, with tips on top. The D.C. Board of Elections approved the initiative as a proper ballot measure; the coalition is in the signature-collection phase now, targeting an upcoming 2027 D.C. special election.

The coalition: OFW, UNITE HERE Local 25, SEIU-1199, UFCW-400, and the Working Families Party. Opposition legal delays may push the vote to a special election in early 2027, but either way the initiative is moving. Polling at 80%.

The proof from I-82

D.C. is the case study. After Initiative 82 began phasing in:

• D.C. hit an all-time record for full-service restaurant employment in April 2025 — 30,633 jobs, the highest since BLS recordkeeping began in 1990.
• 6 of the top 10 employment months in D.C. history have occurred since I-82 wage increases began.
• D.C. median hourly tips are 25% above the national average — the "tips will collapse" prediction failed.
• D.C. is #1 in the nation for per capita dining spending ($10,291/year).

The industry lobby spent four years arguing I-82 would destroy D.C. restaurants. The data is the rebuttal.

What I-82 ran into

In July 2025, the D.C. Council voted 7-5 to slow the I-82 phase-in — capping the tipped wage at 75% of the regular minimum wage by 2034 instead of fully eliminating the subminimum by 2027. The National Restaurant Association ran a sustained pressure campaign to make it happen. I-82 was not repealed, and tipped workers in D.C. still earn substantially more under the law than before. But the lobby’s playbook worked partially. Initiative 87 is the next round.

What workers are saying

“The apocalyptic prediction of doom and misery was completely manufactured. Workers have enjoyed getting a pay bump. They’re happier at work. Yes, people are still tipping servers. My tips have stayed stable, no change.” — Trupti, D.C. tipped worker

The political moment

D.C. Initiative 82 passed in November 2022 with 74% of the vote — one of the largest margins in modern D.C. history. Two years into the phase-in, the city is breaking restaurant employment records, tips are running 25% above the national average, and per-capita restaurant spending in D.C. is the highest in the country. The economic case is settled. What followed was a political fight: the National Restaurant Association funded a sustained 2024-2025 push to slow the phase-in, culminating in a July 2025 D.C. Council vote (7–5) to cap the tipped wage at 75% of the full minimum by 2034 rather than continue to full equity. The Initiative 87 campaign is the response — restoring the original intent of Initiative 82 and finishing the job at $25 for all D.C. workers.

Polling on a $25/hour minimum wage for every D.C. worker sits at 80% in 2025 surveys, with majority support across every demographic, ward, and partisan affiliation tested. The coalition leading the Initiative 87 push includes One Fair Wage, UNITE HERE Local 25, SEIU-1199 (healthcare and home care), UFCW Local 400 (grocery and retail), and the D.C. Working Families Party — the same labor and community alignment that won I-82 in 2022 and that delivered Mayor Bowser’s 2024 reelection coalition.

What happens if we win

D.C. workers earn the highest tips per capita in the country, and the 2025 employment data confirms that workers don’t lose tips when they get a real base wage — they get both. A $25 floor with tips on top by the 2031 phase-in would lift roughly 250,000 D.C. workers earning less than $25, with disproportionate gains for Black D.C. workers, immigrant workers, and workers in Wards 7 and 8. It would also make D.C. the second jurisdiction in the country to set a $25 floor for every worker, after the Alameda County and Los Angeles California campaigns currently in motion.

Three reports to start with