On Tuesday, state Rep. Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez, D-Cicero, held a Springfield news conference in support of getting rid of the lower wage typically paid to workers who also receive tips. Chicago’s City Council already voted last October to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped employees working within Chicago by July 1, 2028, a move the struggling restaurant industry opposed.
Hernandez wants the state to follow suit. “While we knew this would be a long process,” Hernandez said in an advance statement, “we also knew that abolishing the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers will increase the standard of living for those living paycheck to paycheck, help suburban restaurants compete with their Chicago counterparts, and address systemic harassment facing these workers.” That statement is absurd.
A big lie, even. Everyone knows, including Hernandez, that removing the lower wage for tipped employees (who usually earn far more in total than kitchen workers) will not help “suburban restaurants compete with their Chicago counterparts” but will do precisely the opposite. As for “systemic harassment,” whatever that means, what does that have to do with this issue? No worker should be harassed, whatever the wage structure in place.
And unless you are consumed by anti-capitalist dictums, it’s generally humans who do any and all harassing, using systems as a smokescreen. Right now, suburban restaurants have a significant advantage thanks to Chicago’s counterpr.
