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Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, tipped employees will make $8.40 an hour
in Illinois, but more in Chicago.
The group One Fair Wage is calling on employers to pay the full
minimum wage with tips on top. President Saru Jayaraman said the
move would attract more workers and has worked in other states.
“Minnesota already passed it decades ago and they have actually
higher restaurant sales and small business growth rates than
Chicago and Illinois,” Jayaraman told The Center Square.
Her
group has launched a national campaign saying workers who earn
the tipped minimum wage are more vulnerable to sexual harassment
and wage theft.
There is some pushback to the proposal. Illinois restaurant
owner Matt Idzikowski told Rockford TV station WTVO the costs
would have to be recouped somewhere and most likely would be
passed onto the customer.
“Although people are making more money, the cost of the items
that they are buying are probably going to go up about the same
pace,” Idzikowski said.
In Michigan, the issue has gone to the state’s highest court on
whether to increase the state's minimum wage for hourly and
tipped workers.
A restaurant owner there told Bridge Michigan that menu prices
will skyrocket.
“I’m going to have to charge a ridiculous price for any single
item,” said Roberto Ortega, owner of El Mariachi in Novi. “Their
tips are going to decrease because I'm going to have to charge
more to the guests.
Others point to California where the minimum wage was hiked to
over $15, causing tipped workers to log fewer hours and make
less money.
In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned on the issue,
saying low-wage restaurant workers deserve more.
“I see any effort that we put forth as a government to secure
the economics for working people certainly places us in a far
better position to have a sustainable economy,” Johnson said.
Today, 43 states allow subminimum wages.
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