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Fresh off a victory at Chicago’s City Hall, proponents of eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers have their eyes set on Springfield. A bill set to be introduced in the General Assembly next week by state Rep. Elisabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and supported by the One Fair Wage group, would go a step further and eliminate the tipped wage statewide by Jan. 1, 2025, effectively forcing restaurants across Illinois to pay their workers a higher minimum hourly rate than Chicago restaurants by next year.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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In high school I worked as a busboy. My wage was about $2/hour plus tips. I worked Friday and Saturday nights and we were always busy, with tips the pay was good. If you told me I was getting switched to minimum wage I would say that’s fine move me to the lunch shift or I’m gone. Why should the person who sits around on the lunch shift get the same pay as someone that busts their ass on a Friday or Saturday night. It’s going to be tough for restaurants to figure this one out if it passes.
ACCELERATE!!!
Maybe it’s time for those who still dine out in IL adopt the European standard of tipping, zero.
If this bill passes, restaurants will need to raise prices to cover the higher cost of labor. If that happens, many may have to lower their tip percentage to offset the higher base cost of food. This happened in several major liberal cities, and the restaurant employees don’t like seeing the tips drop substantially. But what else is a customer to do? Caveat emptor.
We would all do well to remember that tipping is discretionary, not mandatory. Also, tip only on the food/ drink, not the additional 8.75% tax on the bill. If my bill isn’t itemized, I inform the server that my estimate is probably going to be less than 15% . Not very good with math, thanks public schools! Just kidding.