Before Aldo. (Ward 26) Jesse Fuentes praised the city of Chicago’s move to end minimum wage tipping and sought to allay concerns that the move would ruin small businesses.
Fuentes, one of the original proponents of the ordinance, drew a distinction between the government that supports “hospitality” (the business side of the industry) and its workers. Fuentes said the City Council is used to appearing on behalf of restaurateurs and will continue to do so. But the new ordinance was about employees, especially a group of BIPOC allies who wore pink shirts and watched the meeting. “Today, we show up for our workers,” Fuentes said.
On Friday, October 6, the Chicago City Council voted 36-10 in favor of an ordinance that would phase out the city’s tipped minimum wage over five years. The ordinance calls for a gradual increase in the city’s tipped minimum wage of $9.48 to the current standard minimum wage of $15.80 an hour. Progressives across the country have targeted a tipped minimum wage, and Mayor Brandon Johnson made it part of his policy before May’s election.
Mayor Johnson had previously allied with the progressive group One Fair Wage, which had pushed to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. One Fair Wage founder Saru Jayaraman called Friday’s vote “historic” and cried after clerks announced the final tally. Aldo. Another co-sponsor of the ordinance, Carlos Ramírez Rosa (Ward 35), said the ordinance corrects a mistake, saying it “includes tipped workers when raising the minimum wage. “I neglected to do so,” he said.
Supporters chanted “one fair wage” several times during the rally, and booed a group of restaurant owners who showed up to oppose the bill as they left the chamber before the vote. The tipped minimum wage is considered a tax break for restaurants, allowing owners to pay eligible employees less than their standard $15.80 wage.
Chicago joins Los Angeles as a trophy for the One Fair Wage movement, giving the group victories in two of America’s three largest cities. Next targets are New York City and Boston. But organizers hope to lead the campaign in Springfield as well, forcing the Down state legislator to level the playing field for minimum wage workers across the state. A small number of City Council members represent “border districts” and face competition from suburbs such as Niles, Skokie, and Park Ridge, none of which are particularly known for their restaurants. . Fuentes called on people concerned about inequality to support the One Fair Wage statewide campaign. California, Alaska, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada and Oregon have already adopted measures similar to Washington, D.C., but the impact is difficult to predict. In Los Angeles, for example, business owners are seeing a resurgence of quick-service restaurants and high-quality fast food.
Some restaurateurs feel the new law will discourage new restaurant openings, lead to layoffs and reduce the amount of tips some employees at high-end restaurants take home. The Illinois Restaurant Association last month called off a costly campaign to oppose the ordinance, agreeing to a compromise that would extend the phase-in period from two to five years while creating a private fund to help independent restaurants make the transition. supported the idea.
Aldo. (11th District) Nicole Lee, president of Chinatown and her 150 restaurants; She explained her “no” vote before her vote: “Local voters feel this will hurt rather than help the local economy.”
Still, many restaurant owners have already adapted and supported the ordinance. How can diners expect a good experience at a restaurant if workers can’t pay the bills?
“Our community brings customers, gives us employees and allows our businesses to thrive,” Beth Wagner of Honky Tonk BBQ in Pilsen said before the vote. “If that’s the case, we need to give back and small businesses have always done that for their communities. We need to think about who the people around us are. It won’t.”
Although a big victory for Johnson and his ally Ald. (Ward 40) Andre Vazquez, who voted yes, warned his colleagues that more needs to be done to support the restaurant industry. Avoid business stagnation, permitting stagnation, process stagnation…”
When activists asked former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to pass the ordinance, one of the common lines was that “One Fair Wage” wanted to outlaw tipping. The incident sent fear down the spines of ordinary bartenders and servers who had actively supported the Illinois Restaurant Association’s campaign against any measure.
This time, One Fair Wage chose its rhetoric more carefully. Pointing to the racist and sexist history of tips, the campaign’s tone is to let workers know that the campaign expects them to earn a higher base wage in addition to tips. It changed to Some restaurants plan to raise prices, but One Fair Wage claims that’s already happening during the pandemic. Diners may also face an increase in service charges (unlike tips, this is a controversial practice for consumers who want to know how their charges will be spread out, and for employers who don’t know if they will be taxed). ).
But will customers continue to tip as costs rise? Councilman (Ward 38) Nicolas Sposato and Vázquez both agree to provide customers with sufficient information on how to properly tip. said it was necessary to do so. For example, even if the standard minimum wage were raised, a worker would still need tips after five years. This ordinance doesn’t mean workers don’t need to be tipped, it just means they’re better protected from bad actors and late workdays.
There are also various service models, such as digital kiosks that eliminate the need for servers. Aldo. (Ward 41) Anthony Napolitano said the use of kiosks and food runners would lead to a loss of hospitality and jobs. The possibility of change “scared him.”
