Politics
City Council Fails to Override Mayor Johnson’s Veto, Keeping Phaseout of Tipped Minimum Wage in Place
The Chicago City Council failed Wednesday to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of a measure designed to reverse a 2023 City Council vote to phase out the tipped minimum wage, keeping one of Johnson’s major legislative accomplishments intact.
After the meeting, Johnson celebrated what he called “a victory for working people across Chicago.”
“We are not backing down from our commitments to workers in our city,” Johnson said. “In recent months, we’ve seen a well-organized, corporate-funded effort to blame rising costs on Black and Brown workers while seeking to take hard fought raises away from the very same workers.”
The Chicago City Council voted 30-18 on March 18 to scuttle a plan approved nearly two and half years ago to end the tipped minimum wage, sometimes referred to as the subminimum wage.
The failure Wednesday of at least 34 members of the City Council to vote to reject Johnson’s action means all three of the vetoes the mayor has issued will stand. Johnson previously vetoed a measure to ban the sale of most intoxicating hemp products as well as an ordinance to expand the Chicago Police Department’s curfew powers.
Chicago restaurants must phase out the tipped minimum wage by July 1, 2028, while giving servers and other workers who earn gratuities 8% raises annually every July 1.
All Chicago businesses should be required to pay their workers the same minimum hourly wage, regardless of whether they also earn tips, Johnson has said.
The mayor, who faces reelection in less than a year, cast the fight over the tipped minimum wage as a battle against those who would block Black and Latina women working in the service industry from being paid fairly.
The measure vetoed by Johnson was designed to freeze the subminimum wage at 24% of the city’s $16.60 per hour minimum wage.
Supporters of that freeze said it was a mistake for Chicago to join Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. In June, Washington, D.C., leaders put their efforts to phase out the minimum wage on ice.
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) said the looming end to the tipped minimum wage “is harming Chicago.”
“That’s why we have to stand up today and do what is right, instead of doing, what politically, you think, is correct,” Beale said.
That brought a direct response from Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward), who led the push to end the tipped minimum wage.
“Making sure that people can afford their rent, pay their bills and put food in their refrigerator is not a politically correct thing to do it is a human thing to do, it is a just thing to do, it is the right thing to do,” Fuentes said.
Sam Toia, the CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association, called the failure of the override a “disappointment.”
“We urge the mayor to listen to the 30 aldermen who heard from hundreds of servers and operators from across the city that something needs to be done to support these restaurants,” Toia said in a statement. “Their margins are slim and the risks are high for these businesses and inaction will only lead to more closures. Neighborhoods will slowly lose establishments that are integral to their communities, and the places that make this city special will eventually disappear.”
Tipped workers must now be paid $12.62 per hour by their employers, assuming tips account for at least another $3.98 per hour.
Restaurant industry groups and supporters of the measure to keep the tipped minimum wage on the books contend that the pay raises have cut into restaurants’ already thin margins, forcing them to cut jobs and shelve expansion plans.
There is no sign that the pace of restaurants closed at a higher rate after the City Council’s vote in 2023, Johnson said, dismissing critics’ concerns.
Johnson has also said ending the tipped minimum wage would protect workers who rely on tips because they are more vulnerable to sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse than other employees.
The 2023 vote was a major victory for Johnson, who vowed to end the tipped minimum wage during his campaign for mayor, calling it a vestige of slavery since most of those who rely on tips to earn a living wage are more likely to be Black and Latina women.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
