Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoes bid to halt wage hikes for tipped workers in Chicago
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday vetoed an ordinance that would have halted scheduled wage hikes for tipped workers in Chicago, calling the bid to freeze their pay "tone deaf and shortsighted."
The proposal, approved by the City Council last week on a 30-18 vote, would freeze tipped wages at the current rate of $12.62 per hour. Alders would need 34 votes to override Johnson's veto.
Quoting from the Bible, Johnson said, "Woe unto the rich who have denied the wages to the workers."
"We're not going to abandon working people," Johnson said. "I will not allow our progress to be put on pause. I will not allow us as a city to compromise what workers deserve. We will fight to preserve the raises of tipped workers. We will continue to fight to push back against the segment of City Council which has unfortunately sided with the very people that God said 'woe unto.'"
Johnson's veto ensures that tipped workers will see their minimum wage increase on July 1, 2026, to 84% of the full minimum wage, which stands at $16.60 per hour. The city's minimum wage increases every year on July 1 by 2.5% or matching the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, so it's not yet clear how much those wages will increase in July.
In 2023, the City Council approved the "One Fair Wage Ordinance" to gradually increase the wage for tipped workers to the full minimum wage by July 1, 2028. It was one of Johnson's first signature wins for his progressive agenda.
Before the ordinance passed, businesses were allowed to pay tipped workers 60% of the standard minimum wage. If tipped workers' wages and tips do not add up to the full minimum wage, employers must make up the difference.
Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) led the effort to freeze the phase-out of the tipped wage where it stands, and keep the subminimum wage for tipped workers at 76% of the full minimum wage.
"The last few years have shown us that this clearly wasn't working, and we've lost a ton of restaurants, and a lot of servers have lost their jobs, and quite frankly we need servers. We want our restaurants to thrive," Nugent said last week. "This legislation will help protect servers and back-of-the-house jobs, and keep small independent restaurants operating."
Critics of the One Fair Wage Ordinance have argued it has forced restaurants to reduce staffing, raise prices, or close altogether.
Bronzeville Winery owner Eric Williams has said, if the subminimum wage for tipped workers continues to go up, he might be forced to go out of business.
Williams said he understands the intent of the ordinance, but believes it's actually hurt tipped workers by forcing restaurants to cut back on staffing and/or increase menu prices, driving away customers.
"The more you increase your prices, the less people come," Williams said. "So, because of that, we've had to cut service, because we have less customers coming. So now we go from five servers to having three. So because of the $3 increase per hour, they're losing $30 or $40 per hour in what they were making tips."
However, Johnson has argued that there are now more people working in hospitality jobs in Chicago than before the One Fair Wage Ordinance went into effect.
According to the mayor, since the ordinance went into effect in July 2024, the city has issued 1,574 new retail food establishment licenses. He also said that, in 2025, 83% of the city's licensed retail food businesses renewed their licenses 2025, compared to 81% in each year from 2021 to 2024.
"Chicago's restaurant industry is not shrinking. In fact, it is thriving," he said.
Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th), the chief sponsor of One Fair Wage Ordinance, said tipped workers "deserve to live in a city that they can afford," and shouldn't' be forced to choosing between paying utility bills, buying groceries, or paying for childcare.
"In a moment in which affordability is the number one conversation, not just in the city of Chicago, but in this country, we are talking about freezing people's wages. That just is not right," Fuentes said.
Fuentes said, while the city can do more to help small businesses thrive, it should not come at the expense of paying better wages to their workers.
"We can go after insurance companies that are doubling their policies on business owners. We can talk about the increase in property taxes in the city and across the state. We can talk about the increase of rent across commercial properties. We can talk about affordability, and it should not come at the cost of our workforce, the backbone of our city," she said.
Carmella Muhammad, owner of Let's Eat To Live restaurant in South Shore, said she supports increasing wages for tipped workers, even if it means a greater burden on her business.
"We are being charged to taking care of our people," she said. "Being able to pay my employees a wage that they can live off of, it will allow us to make our community a decent, clean, and safe place to live,"
Johnson's veto of the freeze on tipped wages is the third veto of his tenure. Last June, he vetoed an ordinance allowing police to issue a "snap curfew" on as little as 30 minutes' notice. Last month, he vetoed a measure banning the sale of most intoxicating hemp-derived products in Chicago.
Alders could attempt to override his latest veto at the next City Council meeting on April 15.
Meantime, the Illinois Restaurant Association is taking its fight against the tipped wage increases to Springfield. A proposal sponsored by state Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago) would prohibit local governments from regulating tipped wages, giving that authority exclusively to the state.
The measure advanced in the Illinois House Labor and Commerce Committee in a 22-4 vote on Thursday. If passed, it would effectively lower the tipped wage in Chicago to the current state rate of $9 per hour, cutting base pay for tipped workers by nearly 30%.
The Illinois Restaurant Association said the legislation "would ensure the State of Illinois sets a uniform tipped wage rate, preventing a confusing patchwork of local municipality rules across our state. This stability is essential for the health of our hospitality industry and the livelihoods of tipped workers."