Chicago City Council Upholds Tipped Worker Wage Increase After Mayoral Veto Stands

Chicago’s tipped workers are set to see wages rise in line with the cost of living after a City Council effort to halt the increase failed on Wednesday. Council members voted 30-19 to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of a measure that would have frozen the hourly pay of tipped employees, falling four votes short of the required threshold.

The proposal would have capped servers’ and bartenders’ hourly base pay at 76% of the city’s minimum wage, currently leaving these workers at $12.62 per hour compared to Chicago’s standard rate of $16.60. As a result of the failed override, the previously approved gradual phaseout of the subminimum wage will continue as planned, with hourly pay for tipped workers scheduled to rise annually each July to keep pace with cost of living adjustments.

The attempt to freeze the wage increase was championed by the Illinois Restaurant Association and several alderpersons, who argued that higher labor costs present challenges for restaurants already contending with rising property taxes and new mandated benefits. “They have figured it out — by reducing hours and staff,” said Economic Development Committee Chair Gilbert Villegas, referencing how some restaurants have responded to previous increases.

Mayor Johnson, who has now successfully upheld three vetoes during his tenure, described the outcome as a victory for low-wage workers. He argued that opposing the raises for tipped workers would disproportionately impact women and people of color, many of whom earn less than $35,000 annually. “We are not backing down from our commitment to workers in our city,” the mayor said after the vote.

The Illinois Restaurant Association had targeted nine alderpersons with significant restaurant presences in their wards in hopes of flipping enough votes to override the veto but was unsuccessful. The current legal structure also requires restaurants to compensate tipped workers if their wages and tips do not reach the city’s minimum hourly wage.

With the Council’s decision, tipped worker pay in Chicago will continue its incremental path upward, and another cost-of-living increase is scheduled to take effect on July 1. No further efforts to halt the phaseout are currently pending.