The ordinance's passage means that tipped workers in Chicago would not get another city-ordered wage boost as scheduled on July 1, 2026, or July 1, 2027.

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday is set to vote on a compromise measure to delay the phaseout of the city’s tipped minimum wage.

A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson said he supported the compromise measure even though it would undermine one of his major legislative accomplishments as he prepares to run for a second term as mayor.

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.

It will take 34 votes for the Chicago City Council to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto, the third he has issued in less than a year. That effort is expected to take place on April 15.

Supporters of keeping the lower tipped minimum wage say it’s a win for restaurant owners who have seen an increase in all costs.

“I will not abandon phasing out the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers at a time when Trump’s wars and tariffs are making it increasingly difficult to live and raise a family throughout the city and country,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

For over 50 years, the Chicago-based organization has worked nationally on anti-poverty advocacy by litigating, shaping policy and training networks of lawyers, community leaders and advocates.

While Mayor Brandon Johnson and advocates say phasing out the tipped minimum wage helps the city’s lowest-paid workers, critics worry about the higher labor costs facing restaurants.

If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would affect working conditions at constructions sites and in mines, and limit the government’s ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or killed while engaging in inherently risky activities such as movie stunts or animal training.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed a long-awaited bill to stop Illinois organizations from paying less than the minimum wage to workers with disabilities.

Beginning New Year’s Day, Illinois workers making minimum wage will see wages rise by $1 and tipped workers will see their paychecks bump to $9 an hour. Youth workers under 18 who work fewer than 650 hours a year will have a $13 minimum wage.

“It is time to treat people with developmental disabilities the same and have them be paid what they’re worth, which is what we pay everybody else,” state Sen. Cristina Castro told an Illinois Senate committee.

Advocates who have been pushing to eliminate statewide what is called the subminimum wage acknowledged Tuesday that their efforts to pass the measure during the General Assembly’s spring session won’t move forward.

Current Illinois law allows employers to pay their tipped workers 60% of the state’s minimum wage. That amounts to $8.40 hourly, compared to the minimum wage of $14 per hour. If their wages plus tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.

Under a new proposal introduced last week in Springfield, all tipped workers in the state would have to be paid the equivalent of the Illinois’ regular minimum wage through a combination of wages and tips. If the tips fall short, their employers would have to make up the difference.