City Council members propose 2-year timeline for eliminating 'sub-minimum' wage

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A possible pay raise could be coming for Chicagoans who make tips on the job.

On Wednesday, City Council members introduced an ordinance that would eliminate the "sub-minimum wage" for tipped workers.

It's a change Mayor Brandon Johnson supported, even before he took office.

The change would have an impact on employees and restaurants in the city.

Windy City Ribs just opened its second location at Navy Pier. Servers are paid well: Owner Terri Evans said she chooses to pay the full minimum wage plus tips.

"Yes, it would be easier to cut costs by cutting labor, but is that the right thing to do?" Evans said.

Evans strongly supports an ordinance introduced at City Council Wednesday by Mayor Johnson's floor leader, Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa.

"If you get tips, you get the full minimum wage just like everyone else; you get the tips on top," Ramirez-Rosa said.

RELATED: Cook County minimum wage set for increase on July 1

Ramirez-Rosa said currently restaurant workers get 60% of the full minimum wage. The proposal is to phase the ordinance in over a two-year period to give restaurants the chance to financially prepare.

The Illinois Restaurant Association has concerns, especially for smaller neighborhood restaurants who continue to recover from the pandemic and inflation.

"Restaurants are on very thin thin margins, barely breaking even in our neighborhood restaurants; that is who I'm concerned about," Illinois Restaurant Association President and CEO Sam Toia said.

Toia is worried paying servers full minimum wage plus tips could to lead to layoffs.

"If you have six people working, you might go to five; if you have busboys working, you may have to go to one," Toia said.

But backers of the ordinance, including the mayor, believe paying workers more will be better for the economy.

"This is about investing in people, Black women, brown women, heads of households; because by investing in people, we strengthen the backbone of our economy," Johnson said.

Evans said her business is thriving despite paying her servers more. She said the key is being creative with costs

"It is difficult, absolutely, but you have to be a steward of your numbers, and I think it is manageable, and, again, it is ethical and right thing to do," Evans said.

Ald. Ramirez-Rosa said his ordinance has the support of a cross-section of City Council members. Ramirez-Rosa is working with the restaurant industry, and hopes to pass the measure by the end of the year.