A coalition of progressive organizations and labor groups like the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union are launching a new effort to increase the tipped wage in New York amid a tight job market as the economy continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Workers need a guaranteed high wages and stability to return to work in restaurants, and restaurants who have already met this benchmark deserve a level playing field," the organizations wrote in a letter to be released on Thursday to top legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Progressive organizations and lawmakers in the last several weeks have put a renewed focus on wages in New York. The effort to increase tipped wage pay comes alongside a separate push to increase the state's minimum wage once again.

The tipped wage proposal is meant to raise wages for workers who earn less than the current minimum wage, but in theory are able to recoup that pay through gratuity.

A bill backed by the coalition and sponsored by Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas and Sen. Alessandra Biaggi would raise tipped wages over several years to $15 by 2024 in New York City and the metropolitan area. Upstate counties would reach $12.50 in the tipped wage by that year.

Supporters of the bill point to the impacts of tipped workers during the pandemic, many of whom have struggled with COVID and faced job insecurity.

"Tipped workers are primarily women and women of color and have long been under paid and underprotected," they wrote.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier this month that compensation costs for private industry workers in New York City rose 4% between March 2021 and this year. Wages and salaries grew by 4.2%. Local consumer prices during that same time period increased 6.1%.