"I've owned Swing Wine Bar for 18 years and have run restaurants in downtown Olympia for more than 23 years. I work on shift alongside my staff and take home a modest salary to manage the business. Here’s the reality: restaurants in Washington average just 1.5% profit margin. Ours is one of the highest minimum wages and highest spirits taxes in the country, making it hard for full-service restaurants to stay profitable. To put this in perspective, a boutique restaurant grossing $1 million a year might only net $15,000 in profit. That’s razor thin. I do this work because I love it — the independence, the community, and the team I work with (many who’ve been with me for decades).
At Swing, all employees are tipped and already make well above the proposed new minimum wage. Prop. 1 would require me to raise wages for all staff — including servers — with no exception for tipped employees. That money would come straight out of our already tiny profit margin. People often say, “Just raise your prices.” But we’re already raising prices regularly just to cover rent, utilities, linen services, dishwashing costs, and rising food prices. There’s only so much customers are willing to pay before they stop coming. If I can’t raise prices enough to cover the impact of Prop. 1, the difference will come out of my own paycheck — putting me below minimum wage as the business owner! This measure may help some workers in some places, but it will hurt many others. It will force some restaurants to cut hours, lay off staff, or even close their doors. This initiative has good intentions, but its unintended consequences will hurt Olympia’s small businesses, workers, and economy. Please vote NO on Proposition 1, the Workers’ Bill of Rights."
