Raise
theWage
Sign the pledge to voice your support for our 25 x 25 by 250 campaign to raise the wage to $15 an hour and gradually raise the subminimum wage for tipped workers.
Why do we need to Raise the Wage?
32 million Americans need a raise. Raising the minimum wage is not only necessary and urgent, it’s wildly popular. Most Americans support it. The Biden administration has endorsed it. It has broad support in the Senate and the House and amongst voters. Now, we are on the precipice of historic change. After many years of advocating for an end to the subminimum wage for tipped workers, still $2.13 an hour and a direct legacy of slavery, One Fair Wage has been tracking massive upheaval in the restaurant industry, with 1 million workers having left the industry and thousands of restaurants raising wages to recruit staff. To take advantage of this moment, we are announcing a NEW multi-state campaign in which we are initially committing $25 million to raise wages and end subminimum wages in 25 states by the United States’ 250th Anniversary (2026), in partnership with donors, nationally-recognized activists and social movement institutions. The 25 states include states where we are already moving bills and ballot measures for One Fair Wage – NY, IL, DC, CA, MI, ME – and others where we are launching legislative or ballot measure campaigns in the near future.
$25 Million Goal
25 States
By the U.S. 250th Anniversary (2026)
CAMPAIGN SUPPORTERS

Ifeoma Ezimako
One Fair Wage DC Worker Leader
Chef Russell Jackson
Owner, Reverence, Harlem
Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder in Residence, PolicyLink & Host of the Radical Imagination podcast
Jane Fonda
Actress, Author, Activist
Congressmember Pramila Jayapal
D-WA 7th District
Congressmember Brenda Lawrence
D-MI 14th District
Michael Lastoria
CEO, & Pizza
Aleyamma Mathew
Executive Director, Collective Futures Fund
Nick Hanauer
Entrepreneur & Civic Activist
Rebecca Dixon
Executive Director, National Employment Law Project
Joe Sanberg
CEO, Aspiration & Founder, Working Hero Action
Vikrum Aiyer
Deputy Director, ACLU Political Advocacy Dept & Former Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama AdministrationSignthe Pledge
We must protect and lift up the most marginalized workers who power our country’s economy, and ensure that tipped workers are not left behind.
Our Partners



Senator Sanders on the Senate floor
Bernie Sanders mentions our 140,000 One Fair Wage petitions on the Senate floor! Help us reach our goal of 300,000 pledges by adding your name today.
Hear from our supporters
“I’m thrilled to support One Fair Wage and their new campaign to raise wages and end subminimum wages in 25 states. Raising the wage is good for workers, families, businesses and the economy. While Congress works to pass the critical policies in the Raise the Wage Act, I am glad to see that multiple states are taking steps to ensure that their workers are being paid.”
Congressmember Pramila Jayapal
(D-WA 7th District)
“In order to pay for college, I worked as a full time waitress every summer. I remember working sometimes over 40 hours a week and my paystub would still be only $60-75 every two weeks. All of my significant earnings were brought home in my ‘tips bag’ and the silent contract to get those tips was to oblige requests and endure indignity. A fair wage is the only way to level the playing field. It’s what needed in every state and restaurant and One Fair Wage is working to make that happen.”
Kate Capshaw
artist and co-founder, The Hearthland Foundation.
“The quicker we can move from this country away from this policy, the better off both the industry, and the workers will be.”
Nick Hanauer
Entrepreneur and Civic Activist
“The majority of Americans also overwhelmingly agree that we should face and fix our nation’s history of racial justice. That includes, for instance, the subminimum wage — a direct legacy of slavery where white owners didn’t want to pay newly freed Black workers and so invented the idea that customers would pay workers instead through tips. It remains policy today in 43 states and at the federal level, where the subminimum wage is just $2.13 an hour. But nationwide, a strong majority of all Americans support ending the subminimum wage and raising the overall minimum wage to $15 an hour with tips on top.”
Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder in Residence at PolicyLink
“America isn’t often united around major policy shifts — but on at least one thing we agree: millions of working people in both red and blue states understand the need for a living wage. Since 2009, the cost of living has skyrocketed, while the federal minimum wage remains at a starvation wage of $7.25. In a consumer economy, a living wage isn’t just a moral imperative — it is a political priority. Until Congress decides to act for the betterment of the American people, we’ll make the change for ourselves, and bring ballot measures to raise the minimum wage to states all over the country.”
Joe Sanberg
Progressive entrepreneur, business leader and founder of Working Hero PAC
“The subminimum wage for tipped workers is a legacy of the racism and legacy of chattel slavery that directed the original passages of minimum wage laws decades ago. It has contributed to higher rates of poverty, wage theft, and workplace harassment for workers who are forced to rely on customer’s tips for a living. It perpetuates labor market inequity, with tipped workers experiencing precarity, stress and fluctuations in earnings because they cannot rely on a decent set wage with tips on top, especially for Black workers because racism affects how customers tip. And it is shameful – for 30 years now, the subminimum wage for tipped workers on the federal level and in many of the states has been frozen at $2.13 an hour. Across the country, workers are organizing and demanding better wages and the end to laws that have exclusion and inequity at their core. We are excited to join with the workers and advocates who are fighting for equitable and just treatment under our nation’s bedrock workplace laws.”
Rebecca Dixon
National Employment Law Project
“Hard-working Americans have been left behind for far too long, and this pandemic has only worsened that problem. Raising the minimum wage to $15 is long overdue. This increase will significantly help our workers recover while also reducing racial and gender inequality. This is a top priority in the fight for economic justice. During a time when so many are struggling, raising the wage and ending the subminimum wage are strong steps to helping countless Americans, especially women and people of color, across the country.”
Congressmember Brenda Lawrence
(D-MI 14th District)
More About The Campaign
For Media Inquiries: please contact onefairwage@unbendablemedia.com