By Jordyn Hermani
Bridge Michigan, December 29, 2025. Also Bridge Detroit, Iron Mountain Daily News, Manchester Mirror, WOOD-FM iHeartRadio, Daily Press
LANSING — Michigan’s minimum wage will jump by $1.25 an hour on Thursday under a new state law that sped up planned base rate increases but scaled back a bigger bump for tipped workers. The minimum wage will climb from $12.48 to $13.73 an hour on Jan. 1. ... Wage increases are scheduled to continue in future years, with the standard minimum wage hitting $15 in 2027 and then being tied to inflation. ...
But Steven Dyme, co-founder and CEO of the midwestern floral arrangement business Flowers for Dreams, argues that “it’s about time” for the minimum and sub-minimum wage to increase.
“It’s been so frustrating to see such resistance to raising the minimum wage, even with the cost of living” on the rise, he told Bridge Michigan, joking that he wished minimum wage would actually “go up faster” to help address the affordability gap.
Dyme’s flower business operates in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee, with the first of those three cities already mandating a $16.60 an hour minimum wage and $12.62 per hour sub-minimum, or tipped, wage.
“Profits can’t be continuing to increase… without workers getting a larger share,” Dyme told Bridge in early December. “That’s not feasible, sustainable, or right in my view.” ...