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Jane Fonda And Lily Tomlin In Ann Arbor Advocating For A Living Wage

Lisa Barry

A few days before they compete for the same Emmy award in Los Angeles, actresses Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin were in Ann Arbor trying to raise awareness and support for an upcoming ballot initiative.  It would gradually raise the minimum wage and phase out the two-tiered salary of workers who earn tips.

Both women have ties to the state. Their visit was organized by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.

89.1 WEMU'S Lisa Barry sat down with the two co-stars at an Ann Arbor restaurant and talked before their free appearance on the University of Michigan campus.

The actresses say they feel they are facing an uphill battle in achieving a fair wage for Michigan’s workforce.

Credit Lisa Barry

  
“What do we want Michigan to be?” asks Fonda.  “What do we want to be as citizens?  Do we want to live in a state that shut people’s water off just because they can’t pay their bills?  Do we want to live in a society where women – because it’s mostly women who work in restaurants for tips – have to put up with unbelievable sexual harassment?”

One Fair Wage will need 350,000 signatures to get on the November 2018 ballot.

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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu

Lisa Barry was a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU.
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