Labor advocates with a national group are bringing Jane Fonda to Detroit on Friday to oppose the law now in effect that advocates say hurts restaurant and service workers.
Fonda is set to join Michigan workers and members of One Fair Wage Michigan for a “speakout” event Friday at Yum Village, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant in New Center.
The press conference aims to draw attention to a ballot proposal seeking to restore the voter-approved minimum wage law that would set a $15 wage for workers, including tipped workers.
Organizers say workers in attendance will share personal stories about how they’re being affected by rising costs.
“If we want people to believe in democracy, we have to fight for policies that actually improve their lives,” Fonda said. “That starts with wages people can live on, and in Michigan it starts with saying no to Public Act 1 and passing a living wage for all workers, with no exceptions. More than 400,000 workers were promised a raise, only to have it taken away because politicians chose to side with big corporations and CEOs instead of working families.”
A statewide petition effort called Voters to Stop Pay Cuts is gathering signatures to place repeal of Public Act 1 on the November 2026 ballot. The group needs approximately 230,000 signatures to appear on the ballot for voters either choose to approve or reject the legislation during the election in November 2026.
Public Act 1 of 2025 made changes to the minimum and tipped wages ordered by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2024 and preserved the tipped wage for restaurant servers.
One Fair Wage has long argued the Michigan Legislature should have laws go into effect without effectively gutting them pointing to the Michigan Supreme Court upholding 2018 voter-initiated laws to change the state’s minimum wage law.
The passage of the legislation in 2025 saw Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer and a number of Senate Democrats side with Republicans on the bipartisan effort to save tipped wages for restaurant servers and to slow future increases in the minimum wage.
Progressive Democrats criticized some members of their own party for siding with Republicans at the time.
Opponents of the wage increase argue small businesses and servers would be decimated by the removal of the tipped wage law. Pro-business advocates also opposed a proposed increase to the state’s paid leave laws.
Community members expected to attend the event include restaurant workers and operators, director of One Fair Wage Michigan Tameka Ramsey, members of UNITE HERE Local 24, Fems for Dems, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, and the president of One Fair Wage, Saru Jayaraman.
“Public Act 1 is simple: CEOs win, Michigan residents lose billions,” Jayraman said in a statement. “At a time when families can’t afford to lose another dollar, this law forces workers and taxpayers to subsidize corporate profits. Michigan voters have been clear before, the courts have been clear, and now voters will have the chance again to say NO to a $6 billion CEO giveaway and demand a living wage for all — with tips on top.”