Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned on a promise to eliminate the “subminimum” wage for tipped workers to level the economic playing field for waitstaff working on the front lines of Chicago restaurants.
On Wednesday, the mayor took a giant step toward delivering on that promise, but the celebration was tempered by concern over losing jobs, hours and tips.
By a 9-3 vote, the City Council’s Committee on Workforce Development signed off on a compromise that will give Chicago restaurants five years to absorb the 66% increase in labor costs.
Tipped workers are paid $9.48 an hour, compared to Chicago’s $15.80 minimum hourly wage. Under the proposal, they would receive 8% annual increases every July 1, starting next year, through 2028. The minimum wage also is adjusted annually based on the cost of living.
“I want to thank our mayor for living up to the promises that he made on the campaign trail,” said Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th), who negotiated with the restaurant industry on Johnson’s behalf.
“We cannot say that we want Black and Brown women to thrive, we cannot say that we want communities on the South and West Sides to be economically viable, if we’re not willing to pay our people the minimum wage,” Fuentes said.
During the “Fight for $15,” tipped workers were told by the hospitality industry, “You need to wait. It is not your time,” Fuentes said.
“Someone tell me when? I have the answer: Now. ... Our mothers, our families deserve security. Not only do they deserve housing security. They deserve financial security, and that is what we are talking about today.”
Even with the longer runway, Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia said he remains concerned that increased labor costs will force family-owned neighborhood restaurants to reduce hours or eliminate jobs.
He nevertheless swallowed the five-year phase-in.
“Change is always difficult, but negotiations require concessions. … While we disagree with the city’s decision to move forward, it’s a compromise we can live with” because it gives the restaurant industry “time to adjust to the new financial reality,” Toia said Wednesday.
Waitstaff who testified during the public comment session before Wednesday’s vote were similarly divided.
Some were concerned that, when customers find out about the higher wage imposed by the city, they will tip less, leaving workers with less money — not more.
“I fear a mass exodus of service workers, including myself, who no longer want to subject themselves to the difficulties of this work for less pay. I fear menu prices going up and restaurants being incredibly shortstaffed, and potentially, the quality of service will take a nosedive,” said server Karylin Veres, whose father is a chef.
“Restaurants will close. There is no way that my family could have kept their restaurant doors open if this had taken effect back then.”
Proponents of eliminating the subminimum wage stressed it won’t trigger a pay cut.
In the seven states that already have eliminated the subminimum wage, hourly pay actually increased, according to Saru Jayaraman, director of the University of California at Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, who serves as a champion for the national “One Fair Wage” campaign.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), the mayor’s City Council floor leader, condemned as “fear mongering” the claim that tipping will decline.
Restaurants already are required to make up the difference whenever tipped workers don’t make enough tips to reach the minimum hourly wage paid to other Chicago workers. But they don’t, particularly for waitstaff who are women of color.
“I have spoken with so many workers on the margins — undocumented people who are afraid to report their employer for wage theft. Who have been threatened with ICE being called on them because they have stood up and said, ‘You’re supposed to pay me the full minimum wage if the tips don’t get me there.’ This is why we’re fighting for this issue,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
“Some employers have lied to their employees and have brought them here to yell at women of color that are fighting for a fair wage, that are fighting to stop this practice that has led to harassment. That has led to poverty. That has led to exploitation,” Ramirez-Rosa said, his voice rising with emotion.
“Cities across this nation with economies very similar to ours have already instituted ‘One Fair Wage’ with tips on top,” he said. “Restaurants are opening up. Restaurants are employing more workers, and workers are making the same or more in tips. San Francisco had the highest national average on tipping. They are a ‘One Fair Wage’ city.”
The argument was not enough to satisfy Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose downtown and River North ward is the epicenter of a culinary scene that is a cornerstone of the tourism industry.
With notoriously narrow profit margins, restaurants will have “no choice but to pass these costs onto their customers,” Reilly said. He warned of the “law of unintended consequences,” in which menu prices go up, restaurant business declines and more restaurants close — and Chicago loses a big bite of what attracts tourists.
“It’s gonna impact many, many lives at a time when the restaurant industry is just climbing out of the ditch and has a ways to go,” said Reilly, who did not vote because he is not a committee member.
Reilly commended the “intent” of the sponsors, but, “I live in reality, and there are consequences that come with these policy changes. ... We saw what happened to this industry when people decided to dine at home. It had a devastating impact. Chicago lost dozens of restaurants.”
Ald. Marty Quinn (13th), Derrick Curtis (18th) and Nick Sposato (38th), whose wards border suburbs, voiced similar concerns. They cast the three “no” votes.
“It’s so hard to get businesses to come on the Chicago side,” Curtis said. “It’s a struggle being on that border and seeing a business come up across the street.”
Sposato added: “The border ward thing — nobody knows what it’s like unless you live it. We hear it every day. The problems that people feel they have competing with the suburbs that are across the street.”
Branding the ordinance a “job killer,” Sposato said, “You’re gonna see more and more restaurants where you go to the counter, you order your food. You sit down. They put a number on your table. And they come by and bring it to you. No longer being served.”
