Lightfoot's minimum wage compromise advances, to cheers from restaurant owners [View all]

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to raise Chicago’s minimum wage to $15-an-hour by 2021, but maintain a “sub-minimum wage” for tipped workers, cleared a key legislative hurdle on Monday to cheers from restaurant owners.

Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia said the “pragmatic” mayoral compromise advanced by the City Council’s Budget Committee “balances the needs of hard-working Chicagoans” struggling to make ends meet with “neighborhood businesses that drive our economy.”

“Maintaining the tipped wage allows severs and bartenders to maximize their earnings while keeping labor costs down for operators and prices reasonable for consumers,” Toia said, arguing that restaurants operate on a narrow profit margin of 3% to 5%.

“By taking a reasonable approach to the $15-an-hour minimum wage that preserves the tipped wage, the City Council will allow restaurants to continue to grow and invest in our communities.”

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2019/11/18/20971286/lightfoots-minimum-wage-compromise-tipped-workers-restaurants