One Fair Wage

It is also partnered with its 501(c)(4) lobbying arm, One Fair Wage Action. ⁶

Background

OFW is an advocacy organization that opposes the federal minimum wage for tipped workers which as of 2020 sits at $2.13 per hour, subject to a requirement that workers’ total compensation does not fall below the applicable minimum wage. ⁷ The organization also advocates for general gender-based issues, claiming that women are affected by a lower minimum wage at a higher rate than their male counterparts. ¹

One Fair Wage is a fiscally funded project of Alliance for a Just Society, a left-of-center policy advocacy organization. ² It is also closely associated with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a left-of-center workers center that works primarily in the restaurant industry. ³

It is also partnered with its 501(c)(4) lobbying arm, One Fair Wage Action. ⁶

In October 2024, One Fair Wage was accused of altering its 2022 990 Tax Forms schedule C by lower its total lobbying expenditures to comply with requirements for maintaining a 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, amending its tax liability amount from $10,000 down to $1,000. The group was also accused of reclassifying its grassroots lobbying into direct lobbying while raising total expenditures, according to The National Review. ⁶

On October 1, 2024, the National Review was forwarded a fundraising email from One Fair Wage supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign and calling for higher wages. It claimed, “we have an opportunity to reach 14 million restaurant workers showing that [Kamala] Harris supports One Fair Wage, which is what workers really need and want: a raise…One Fair Wage Action is leading voter engagement with service workers in AZ, MI and PA, sharing the differences in the candidates’ stances on their wages – their highest priority issue.” ⁶ The email also links to the organization’s donation page. ⁶

In June 2025, One Fair Wage participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{8 9}

‘Raise the Wage Act’

One Fair Wage was involved with other left-of-center organizations in pushing the ‘Raise the Wage Act,’ a proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and eliminate a lower minimum wage for tipped workers. The organization worked with Jobs With Justice and other organizations within the SEIU-orchestrated Fight for $15 movement to introduce a bill in Congress. In 2017, the legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA); and in the U.S. House by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and then-Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN). ¹⁰

State-Level Petitions

The One Fair Wage promotes petitions calling for state-level minimum wage increases for tipped workers. ¹¹

The petitions advertise support from left-leaning organizations. The New York petition lists as supporters labor unions and aligned organizations (such as the SEIU and National Domestic Workers Alliance), several abortion-access advocacy organizations (such as Planned Parenthood, the National Institute for Reproductive Health, and the New York Abortion Access Fund) and broadly left-of-center grantmaking organizations (such as the Ford Foundation, Groundswell Fund, and Forward Together). Actress and longtime left-wing political activist Jane Fonda is also listed as a supporter on the New York petition. ¹²

Leadership

Saru Jayaraman is the president of One Fair Wage. She is a co-founder and president of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Jayaraman has written books covering issues such as expansionist immigration policy, worker organizing, and left-progressive identity politics. ¹³

Jayaraman and ROC were sued in 2007 by a group of restaurant workers who worked with her in a restaurant project in New York City. The dispute ensued because the restaurant workers alleged Jayaraman required their attendance at labor protests, that they pay dues to ROC, and reneged on initial promise ownership in the restaurant for the workers. The disgruntled workers alleged the ownership clause was altered to become only a 20 percent ownership share to be split among the all of the employees, with the rest owned by investors and ROC. ¹⁴

Alicia Renee Farris is the OFW board chair. She also works as the state director for Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan, and as a board member for the Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan, a network of organizations that pushes a left-of-center economic agenda. ¹⁵

Fekkak Mamdouh is a senior director for OFW. He also works as a director for ROC, which he co-founded in 2002. Prior to his involvement with ROC, Mamdouh worked as a steward for the H.E.R.E. labor union, which later merged with another union to become Unite Here. He also advocates for expansionist immigration policy and has published books on the matter. ¹⁶

Finances

Being a fiscally funded project of Alliance for a Just Society, One Fair Wage does not independently or separately report its individual financial records, grants, or other forms of income. Some donors have publicly claimed their support for the OFW project: the Walter and Elise Haas Fund reported a $25,000 donation in 2019,⁴ and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reported giving an undisclosed amount to OFW in 2020 as part of a $50 million grant  shared by nearly two dozen organizations. ⁵