Order.
Sposato alone, everyone. Order.
They did vote.
Well, Shane did.
Oh, you got to give it to Shane. No problem.
I'm sorry about that.
Yes.
We are going to start on time.
Fireman get in?
Oh, he's not on.
Coleman is online.
Okay.
But he's on her way.
My
phone
is she was out today.
Okay.
Yeah, she was...
Somebody call Halou. We're ready to go.
How many elevator rooms in this conference building?
Y5.
Also, Carlos,
I'd be sorry about the new folks here. I'm sure y'all rocked out.
Seeing the time is now 12:30 PM, we will get the
Committee on Workforce Development meeting into order, and begin the
meeting. We have three agenda items today, the approval of the
Rule 45 report, a resolution calling on Congress to pass and
President Trump to sign the Living Wage for Musicians Act of
2025. And we have an ordinance amending municipal code Chapter
6-105, modifying timelines for employer
allowance minimums in hourly wage occupations receiving
gratuities. Before we begin, I am
conducting a roll call to establish quorum.
Alderman Yancy, Alderman Hall, Alderman Beale, Alderman
Chico was present, is here. Alderwoman Ramirez,
Alderman Quinn,
Alderperson Gutierrez, vice chair.
Here.
Alderman Coleman's online. Alderman Curtis, Chair Rodriguez is
here.
Alderman Taliaferro. Alderman Casada is
present. Alderman Sposato
is here. Alderperson Vasquez is present.
Alderwoman Clay
requested remote. So we have eight members present. We have a quorum.
By Rule 59, Alder Coleman
has requested remote participation.
May I receive a motion? So moved by Alder Vice Chair
Gutierrez to allow her to participate remotely.
All those in favor signify by saying aye. Any opposed?
In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Thank you, Chairman.
You are very welcome, Chairwoman. Thank you for being on.
Non-committee members present, we have
Alderperson Fuentes,
Alderman Burnett was in the house, and Alderman LaSpada, I believe.
And no one else online, I believe. Lovely.
At this time, we'll begin the public comment period.
The public comment period is reserved for 30 minutes.
Out of respect for everybody's time, each speaker is limited to three minutes.
And we'll start off with Thomas Urwin.
You can approach the microphone in the back.
Hi. I wasn't expecting to be first.
So,
my first time commenting on one of these things, so apologies if I don't have the
tone right. Yeah, I'm just speaking out in support of the
resolution regarding the Living Wage for Musicians Act.
I'm not a professional musician. I play in a band, and I don't expect to make
any money from it, but I know people who are, and they're really struggling
right now.
To me, it seems like the perfect intersection of
Chicago's cultural history and labor history
to pass this resolution, and I would be so proud
to live in a city that has a formal declaration
that musicians
deserve a right to a living wage and not just the
tech companies and the record labels that are in
collaboration with each other.
So yeah, I'm speaking up for the musicians, people who have a career
in music, people who want a career in music.
It feels like a very reasonable thing.
I think the momentum behind it in Congress is strong.
But I'm, yeah, really grateful for this resolution being on
the table and that it's under consideration.
So I'll just say thank you for putting it up there, recommend
passing it, and I thank you for your time.
Thank you, and thank you for your quick comments. We love that.
Next up is Kashana Harris, followed by Judith Fonseca.
Kashana Harris.
Okay. And then last but certainly not least, Judith Fonseca.
Good afternoon. My name is Judith.
I am a 25-year-old, and I am a full-time student.
I work in the restaurant industry for the past eight
years.I am here today to speak about the affordability
crisis that tip workers are experiencing in Chicago.
Currently, I'm pursuing higher education in hopes of building a more secure
future, yet the financial burden placed on working
people continues to grow.
As a server, I currently make
$8.50 an hour under the subminimum
wage system, which amounts to roughly $10,000 a year
before tips.
Because tips are inconsistent,
every paycheck varies, making it extremely difficult to
budget for basic living expenses.
Some of my expenses include transportation, tuition, healthcare,
rent, groceries, and school supplies.
Despite working consistently, it often feels
impossible to get ahead.
Gas prices has increased, food cost has increased,
medical expenses have increased, rent has increased,
taxes have increased.
It seems like everything except the minimum wage has increased.
How can we expect to strengthen our economy and support future
generations when working people are left behind?
Increasing the minimum wage would provide workers like me with financial
stability needed to pursue an education, maintain our health,
and meet basic living expenses without constantly fearing
financial hardship.
The cost of living has risen dramatically over the years,
while wages have failed to keep pace.
Gas prices alone are nearly $6 per gallon,
and for workers who rely on their vehicles to commute to work and school,
those costs quickly become overwhelming.
Filling a gas tank multiple times a week
while also covering food, rent, tuition, and household expenses
leaves little opportunity to save or to plan for the future.
Many service workers are
having to deal with everything
to stay afloat, yet still struggle to afford basic
necessities. At times, it feels like I am spending more
time on getting to work than I actually am saving from work.
At the same time, restaurant workers continue to face constant pressure to
maintain sales and provide excellent customer service
under increasingly
difficult situations. Many
workplaces struggle with poor organization, inefficient management,
yet are dealing with
staff shortages, economy instability, or
declining customer trend.
Becca, your time has expired.
I believe we have Kashawna Harris in the room. You're up.
Hi, good morning.
Good morning.
My name is Kashawna Harris, and I am the founder of a new initiative to
establish a sanitation system in our city.
This facility will provide essential hygiene services, offering a safe
space for individuals to reclaim their dignity.
I am here today because I believe that expanding sanitation access is
essential to workforce stability.
Many individuals already in the
workforce face displacement and lack of a secure place to prepare for job
opportunities. This facility will be a key resource in promoting
employment readiness, helping to stabilize individuals, and
strengthening the border communities.
By being centrally located, it will serve as a critical
hub for our public health,
safety, and community pride. By serving
as a central hub for both basic hygiene
and personal development, we support individuals as they transition into the
next step in life. Although the facility will be located across from
the Chicago Police headquarters, it will service all of Chicagoland
areas in a safe and dignified way, or in a safe, dignified,
organic, and structural way.
I ask for your support in promoting this project for the entire city.
Thank you.
Okay. You got to go. Thank you, ma'am. That's our last public speakers.
I don't have a form
for...
Go ahead, Mr. Blakeborn.
You're up, you're up.
I'm so tired of fighting this system.
Make sure it's-- There you go. Give him three minutes. There you go.
Listen.
I stand up.
I believe you.
I am
the supply and demand.
A union.
What is a union? Well, a group of professionals get
together and form a union,
and that union represent them.
Perhaps you people here, instead
of asking for the minimum
wage, gratuities, and taxes,
and the first item and the second item,
it would be more effective with a union.
So I just can't believe that you don't want to take that
route, and you choose to call on the US Congress to
pass, and President Donald Trump to
sign a living wage for the musicians, a
musician union.
And I think that perhaps they might have one in this
city. And the second item,
it says that dealing with employees allows minimum
hourly wages receiving gratuities.
That means tipsSo your
union.
So I think that perhaps you're here with the
Workforce and Development
Committee.
I don't know all you brains here, and you're
intelligent. You seem like you're articulate.
Here in America,
the way we have traditionally handled
our wages
is through our unions.
So that's why it's very, very important to
have a man of Mr. Blakemore's caliber to
attend these meetings.
A union.
And that's why they want to silence Mr. Blakemore.
That man deliberately didn't turn this in.
And I started not to come to this meeting, and it is
totally a waste of time. I'm giving you some
advice.
Try forming a union.
Does this make sense? Make it make sense.
Instead of going
to Trump or to Congress,
a union. That's the American way.
So I can't believe all of y'all are popping up
for this nonsense. That's why they want to
silence me. I am truly somebody, you see.
So thank you very much.
Mr. Blakemore, I thought I heard a compliment there in the one-minute mark that
will stay near and dear to my heart.
That's our last speaker. We will move on to the Rule
45 report.
I believe that was emailed out to all of our members.
Can I have a motion to approve the Rule 45 report?
So moved by Alder
Telefero. Sorry, I didn't hear who was up there.
All those in favor of approving the Rule 45 Report, say "Aye."
Aye.
Any opposed? In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Moving on to our second item, agenda item
R2026-0024901, a
resolution calling on the US Congress to pass, and President Donald Trump to sign,
Living Wage for Musicians Act of 2025.
Today we have with us Alderperson Espada, who is the chief sponsor of this
resolution. We also have with us online Damon
Krukowski from the United Musicians and Allied Workers. That'll be a union.
Alderperson, go right ahead.
Hi. Thank you so much, Chairman Rodriguez.
You know, Mr. Blakemore is right. Unions are powerful, and they
fight not only for their members, but everyone impacted by their work.
And I'm very glad for Julian and for Alex and for Damon, who
are online today, for bringing this
bill to my attention a little while back.
Because there is not a day of my
life
that my life is not enriched by music, particularly
by the current streaming format that most of us receive music
through.
But to find out, for example, that I would have to listen to a
song over 300 times for the
artist who created that song to make a penny
from that streaming,
that cannot be what fairness looks like.
And so having learned from Alex and Julian about
the Living Wage for Musicians Act, which seeks to
create a new royalty system
through
tax and revenue derived from streaming that provide,
again, almost an absurdly modest, but 33
times increase of one penny royalty per
stream.
That's the kind of affordability, that's the kind of fairness in wages that
I think we want to be leaning into. I will leave
it to Julian and potentially
Damon, who's online, to share more.
Thank you, Alderperson.
Take it away, sir. And would you introduce yourself to the group?
Hi. So I'm Julian Pujols Quaal, and I want to quickly
just
amend one thing that you said,
Council Member Espada. It's very complicated.
Not very complicated, but they mess up that data point a lot
to have it be 0.3% of a cent. It's just
0.3% of a dollar. So instead of 33
times, it's three times as much. So still significant.
Anyway, so my name is Julian Pujols Quaal.
I am a Chicagoan, born and raised from Logan Square.
And
I am releasing my first album in a month
with a group that I've been touring with now for three years, Mamey, a
Dominican-Haitian group.
And we've toured in Europe and across the United States, received
grants from the US from different
organizations, granting organizations, toured in the Caribbean.
And what a good tour looks like for us right now
is 100 people coming to see us in whatever
venue.
That looks great. We all are able to
be paid well. But let's say a tour of two weeks is
an average tour.
That's one day of traveling, one day of playing.
That's pretty
intense, but that's fine. And so about two weeks, 14
days, seven days of playing. Seven days, 100 people come, that's
700 people coming,
let's say, in total on this tour. And that's a successful tour for us right now,
where that would be probably successful for a majority of groups and
musicians. Just barely
successful.That amount of
streams, as
Council Member LaSpada was saying,
would not even register on Spotify.
So they don't, as of I think a year or two ago,
they do not pay out streams to anything under 1,000.
So,
that wouldn't even register. In Apple Music, Apple
Music doesn't give us any data
on how much Apple Music itself is making.
Apple only discloses that as a part of their
whole organization. I say this to say, this all
recently has been
actually squeezing us more and more. One minute. Thank you so much.
In 2015, Spotify said that they give out 0.6 to
0.8 of a dollar, percent of a dollar to artists.
Now they give out between 0.3 and 0.4.
They didn't disclose why, basically.
Yeah, so
we,
at that same point in time, streaming made up 15% around
of the total market. Now it makes up more than 70%.
So we have no means to
leverage our power as individual musicians.
And it's taking up and becoming more and more of a monopoly of the
market, and this would be one of the starting
points to have some type of leverage over these streaming companies.
Thank you very much. And online, we have Damon Krukowski.
Are you there?
Thank you. Yes. Can you hear me?
Sure thing. Why don't you go ahead? We got you in for two minutes. Go ahead.
Great. Thank you so much. Very grateful to our Chicago chapter
from United Musicians and Allied Workers for bringing this to the
attention of the committee and to Alderman LaSpada.
The Living Wage for Musicians Act is an attempt to patch a
hole in the current law, in the federal law, that
regulates digital distribution of music.
In the '90s, there were unanimous laws passed by
both Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, to regulate
the new technology that was satellite radio and internet broadcast,
and the very first streaming platforms, so-called non-intentional, like
Pandora.
We are paid directly a little bit from those platforms, thanks to Congress.
We are not paid from Spotify, Apple Music,
YouTube Music, Amazon Music, because like so many tech
platforms, when they entered the market, they disrupted by
dodging existing regulation. The act that's
introduced, and Representative Delia Ramirez is a co-sponsor in the House,
would patch this hole and force the platforms to
pay musicians directly something.
That would be a huge gain for us. It would be a gain for
sustainability for the careers of professional musicians.
Chicago's such an important center for music. It has been my whole career.
I've been a professional since the '80s.
And it also filters down to all the other businesses in a city like
Chicago, the famous recording studios, mastering studios, all the
other ways that professional musicians pay others
to be working in the workforce at large.
We're all starved right now because all the money's being drained up to the top,
to the platforms, the tech platforms, and not to the labor force, which are the
musicians. My cat is participating here as well.
That's probably my two minutes. Thank you so much.
I'm here to answer any questions, if there's any time for that as well.
I have one. Rules of order of the Workforce Committee state that if you have an
animal in presence, you have to introduce them.
That is Makurokurosuke, who is a very, very mischievous black
cat.
Very well. Nice levity to the day. I believe there's a question
from Alderman Sposato.
Thank you.
If I can be one of the speakers to answer this, or
confirm it. Thank you. Can you hear me now?
Yes.
Okay. Either one of our speakers can answer this.
It's something I truly don't understand.
So you have a band, and we're just going to say you have a five-person band.
Does that percentage go to the whole band, or each of the five people get a
percentage of that?
Depending on how
the band is structured. For example, I write all
of the music in my band, and I produce all of
it. So I guess in that case, more of it would go to me.
But in other bands, it's-
So more of it goes to you, or all goes to you, and you decide you could pay your
musicians a little bit more money. Is that kind of how it'd work?
Right. So,
in a typical band structure, everyone has the same amount, and you
would write that down in
ASCAP or whatever organization that is grabbing all of the
royalties, that is determining, "Oh, here's where it's been played.
We're going to get the money from over there.
We're going to get the money from over here.
Oh, and I see here this song is 20% this person,
20% that person." So there's a
way that every time you register a song, you say, "Oh, this was 100%
written by me." There's different ways for money to flow
for musicians, and that one is for the writer
specifically. So-
Oh, so we're not talking about the musicians, we're talking a writer.
So are we asking-- So the writer of the song would get the money, not the band
itself then, technically?
It depends.
Yeah. It depends. The band, if they-
How do the musicians get more money? What would they do?
They'd be part of a successful band, and you're the leader of the band, and you
would say, "I made an extra 100,000 this year, so now I'm going to give each of you
20,000 out of this."
Point of information from the chief speaker.
Just as a point of information-
Yes
... Alderman Sposato, this is actually covered in the federal legislation.
It actually delineates between featured artists and non-featured artists
on the track and breaks down what percentage goes to whom.
And if I could just jump in and say that this structure already-Oh,
sorry. If that's okay to speak again.
That this structure does already exist, as the alderman was saying, and we're
all already registered with a nonprofit that was set up by Congress in the '90s and
early 2000s to distribute that money from platforms
fairly and correctly to how we're all registered with it, but none of it is
coming currently from the streaming platforms.
That's the gap we're looking to fix.
Thanks, David.
So, the bottom line is
the ban means more money for everybody.
Exactly. Thank you.
All right. Easy enough. Thank you.
Thank you. Alderperson Vasquez.
Yeah. Thank you very much, Chairman.
I want to thank
the lead sponsor, Alderperson Espada, for introducing it.
I think as someone who was a recording artist for
some time before getting elected, and in recognizing-
You good?
What group?
Yeah. No, that all got deleted. Way to go, everybody.
So, no, but yeah.
You can go right now, bro.
We'll send it through the Chair. Good looking out.
Yeah.
Y'all are funny. No, but-
Let's get a couple streams. Let's-
I'm just trying to jump another band.
No,
I think
there's clearly been a history of artists being completely
taken advantage of, even prior to streaming systems, right?
When you're looking at any record label deal, it's a loan.
You're basically taking out a loan because someone's decided that maybe you might
get some attention. You then have to go record.
Anything you're doing, you're basically loaning all those funds and
then having to pay it back. So when you're looking at your average artist, they're
not going to make any level anywhere near anything that allows them to make
any money. If anything, you're still in debt trying to do multiple albums after to
see if there's a chance to break out.
But that's prior to when things start going more digital, and now even the
record companies aren't seeing the amount of money they used to.
So they start finding different ways to make money, like the
360 deals, where they want in on your merch as well as tours, as
well as recording. So rather than compensating artists that are
making any level of music, they're finding ways to continue
extracting money from those who are actually contributing the labor that
leads to music. Then you fast-forward to now that you're streaming
platforms or you've got your Spotifys, past when people were just ripping them off
of CDs.
And there's a video by the artist Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos
Def,
where the concept comes up, the fact that anyone can think about dividing a
penny into a way to compensate someone-
They already got rid of it
... right, to say you're going to get a fraction of a penny percentage depending
if someone hears it.
There
are few things that are less just than that when you think about somebody trying to
make music and being compensated enough to continue doing it.
And so it is commendable, one, that we're continuing that
conversation. I really appreciate Congresswoman Ramirez leading on this
in Congress.
It's hard enough for anybody out here to make it.
It has always been hard for artists to make it.
The publishing doesn't even belong to the artist most of the time.
So I appreciate that those guidelines are being articulated in any
level that allow us to continue making things move forward.
I would advocate, and I generally do this anytime we're talking
minimum wages, that they be set to inflation and indexed.
Because we start having a conversation, then you're waiting decades before you can
have it again and try to catch up to what the cost looks like.
So I think it's something we should be discussing whenever minimum wages come up.
But I thank you for your work, and I thank you for being here and making the time,
and thank the sponsor for the introduction. Definitely been support. Thank you.
Speaking of the sponsor, to close briefly.
Thank you so much. We talked about what success could look
like. I would think if 800,000 people
listened to my music in a month, that would feel successful.
But based off of the current royalty structure,
800,000 streams
is the equivalent of a $15 an hour full-time
job. We can do better than that, and I really
applaud Representative Tlaib for introducing this legislation.
Very grateful for my congresswoman for being currently the
only
sponsor from Illinois, though I expect that to change.
And all of this said on behalf of musicians in our
cities who enrich us, who enrich our communities, I would ask
favorable consideration on this resolution by the committee.
Thank you very much. I think Alderperson Vasquez moves due pass on the
item. Before I go to that motion, I want to recognize Alderman
Teddy Farrell, who is here, who's coming back.
And then we're going to
apply the Rule 59 to Alderman Chico, unless there's any objections.
Seeing none, so ordered. On the motion by Alderman Vasquez, all
those in favor of passing this resolution signify by saying "Aye." Any
opposed? In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
Thank you so very much, Aldermen, and thank you so much yourselves.
On to the next item, agenda item
02026-0024043,
an amendment of municipal code chapter 6-105, modifying
timelines for employer allowance minimums and hourly wage occupations
receiving gratuities.
Forgive me, the sponsor of this ordinance has proffered a
substitute to his ordinance. All members should receive the copy of the
substitute in their email, and we also have hard copies today.
Alder Quesada moves to accept the substitute ordinance, which was
emailed. All those in favor signal by saying "Aye." Any opposed?
In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it.
Before turning over to Alderman Burnett to speak on the
ordinance, I want to note that we also have Saru Jayaraman
from One Fair Wage online remotely, as well as in-person, Sam Toia from the
Illinois Restaurant Association.
In addition, we have Director of Labor Standards, Miguel Campos, here to answer
any questions.
Alderman Burnett, you have the floor, my friend.
Thank you, Chairman,
and thank you to everyone who's helped to get this ordinance to where it is today.
We've been having this conversation for a few months now about
How do we find a compromise
for the One Fair Wage ordinance as it currently exists in our
municipal code? And a couple months
back, there was a proposal on the floor
to completely freeze the wage
increase at 24% tip credit.
And
there were a lot of concerns from individuals and
stakeholders on
the progressive side and the One Fair Wage team who've been fighting so hard to
make sure that the minimum wage is met at some point in Chicago.
And so I proposed an initial
compromise document that has taken many forms over the last month.
And
from what was initially proposed,
which was a compromise that froze it for a year
and reached a penultimate goal in
2029.
We've come to some agreement between both sides, the
Restaurant Association and One Fair Wage, and many aldermen listening to some
concerns that my colleagues have had, particularly around small businesses.
I thought it is important that we get the data,
and we have to lean on our commissioner
of BACP to make sure that the claims against
workers are enforced to make sure that wage theft isn't
happening. But we also have to understand the broader impact of what this
ordinance and these type of policies mean for the restaurant industry in totality.
That being said, after meaningful negotiation between both parties,
we've come to a conclusion to do a two-year freeze
of the
tip credit wage at 24% to allow businesses to
digest some of the macroeconomic impacts from
Trump's tariffs to increase food costs, to increase rent,
to increase taxes,
and still have an option and a route
for a full minimum wage to be achieved.
In addition, listening to the feedback from some of my colleagues, we've added a
provision that allows our small businesses to have a longer ramp-up period
for four years, in order to give them some time to deal
with the changing costs and the changing structure.
And again, I really want to applaud and thank my colleagues for
working on this with us over the last two weeks.
Spent a lot of time talking to Alderman Quinn, Alderman
Fuentes, and Alderman Rodriguez.
I felt like I was at Alderman Rodriguez's dinner table over the weekend.
So this is a really broad coalition of folks who are trying to come to a
solution to make sure that we're supporting both the industry in total, and
really workers. Making sure that workers get their fair share, and making sure that
they have a job. And making sure that this industry, which is so vital to
Chicago, continues to be one of our strong points in terms
of service, in terms of quality, and the standard in which we set.
So, I will ask my colleagues to support this, but I
will give it back to the
chairman
to speak to the rest of the people on the panel.
Yes. Sponsor, thank you so much for your engagement.
And I really appreciate working with you as well. Thank you for the kind words.
You've really stepped it up and made the council better, given the guy before you.
That guy, I don't know.
We're going to
reserve questions from alders until after the next two
presentations, if that's okay. At the request of our lead
sponsor, we're going to go first to Sam Toia from the Illinois
Restaurant Association. Sam, you have a couple of minutes. Go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. Again, my name is Sam Toia.
I'm President CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association.
On behalf of the Illinois Restaurant Association, I want to thank Alder Burnett,
Quinn, Villegas, and Nugent for their tireless work on this issue,
and for all our industry supporters who are here today.
Before I begin, I want to be clear. We do not support the
elimination of tip credit. We believe the tip credit is an important
part of our industry compensation model and one that benefits
many tipped employees.
The proposal we put forward during negotiations would have guaranteed
tip workers a wage equal to 124% of the
standard minimum wage. I want to make sure everyone understands that.
Our proposal would have guaranteed tip workers 24%
more than the regular minimum wage.
We believe that was a meaningful step forward for more predictable
pay, which has been one of the main concerns raised by
supporters of eliminating tip credit.
Under our proposal, operators who committed to the higher
guaranteed wage would have been able to maintain the 24% tip
credit.
We continue to believe that was the better policy.
It preserved the tipping model while also guaranteeing a premium
outcome for workers.
If tips were strong, the worker benefited.
If tips were low, the employer had to make up the difference.
Again, the employer had to make up the difference.
The employer could keep the tip credit only by accepting the
risk of guaranteeing the worker more than the minimum wage.
Again, guaranteeing the worker more than the minimum wage.
That approach was simple, clear, and balanced.
It showed that preserving the tip credit and protecting tip workers
do not have to be in conflict. That said, we recognize
where the discussion stands today.
This substitute ordinance is not the ideal outcome for our industry, but
is more workable and less harmful than the following current
phase-out to continue.
The most important part of the substitute is that it extends the current
24% tip credit allowance through 2030, 2028,
and slowly phases out until 2030, except for smaller
operators. That additional time matters.
Restaurants are facing increased costs for labor, food, rent, insurance,
utility, taxes, and fees.Operators need
time to adjust so they can keep their doors open and their staff employed.
Predictability matters for workers too.
Abrupt changes can lead to reduced hours, fewer shifts,
higher menu prices, more service charges, and fewer opportunities for
tipped employees. So while the ordinance is not perfect, it gives the
industry more time to adjust and better manage increased labor costs.
For those reasons, while we will always oppose the
elimination of cash, we can support the substitute ordinance as
compromise. Again, I want to thank Alder Burnett for all his hard
work and everyone on the committee. Thank you.
Joining us remotely is Saru Jayaraman from the One Fair Wage
Coalition. Saru, before you begin, we have non-committee member
Moore present.
Did I mention Hall, Clay, and Yancy were here as well?
Forgive me for doing that. And I did get Chico.
Saru, you there?
Yes, I'm here. Can you see me? Can you hear me?
We see you, and we can hear you well. Take it away.
Thank you so much, Chair Rodriguez, and to the committee
for having me. I want to start by just
reminding us why Chicago City Council
passed this ordinance to begin with.
The sub-minimum wage for tipped workers is a direct
legacy of post-emancipation era in the United States,
when restaurants were allowed to hire newly freed people of
color without paying them anything and force
them to live only on tips. And we've gone from $0
at emancipation to a sub-minimum wage in
Chicago and nationally.
Alder Fuentes led an incredible campaign, and you
all passed a historic bill to get rid of this because it
has created so many problems for so many workers in Chicago over so
many years. The sub-minimum wage for tipped workers forces
a workforce that is still to this day, from then to this day,
overwhelmingly women, disproportionately women of color, to put up with
the highest levels of economic instability and sexual harassment
of any workforce in Chicago and in the United States because they have to
tolerate so much from customers in order to get tips.
The restaurant industry also has the highest levels of wage theft of any
industry because of this two-tiered wage system.
Both the Obama and Biden administrations noted an
84% violation rate with regard to employers.
Sam said they have to make sure tips get you to the full minimum wage.
Both the Obama and the Biden administrations noted an
84% violation rate with regard to restaurant
employers actually ensuring that workers got that full minimum
wage with tips. An 84% violation rate means a
16% compliance rate. It has gotten so much worse.
Just as it's gotten worse for everybody, it's gotten a lot worse for restaurant
workers. Look, restaurant workers, tipped workers in particular, use food stamps
and Medicaid at double the rate of all other workers.
And in general, the economy being what it is, there is no doubt, the
data is undeniable, that customer tipping is generally
down. So in that context, workers need
a full wage that they can rely on more than ever.
And the wonderful ordinance that you all passed has resulted in
success. We've seen 1,574
new restaurants since the ordinance was passed open.
We've seen license renewals go up from 81% when it
passed to 83% in 2025. We've seen
restaurant employment go up, and we've seen Chicago
repeatedly noted as one of the top tipping environments in the
country. So the reasons to
do this are still all there, and we can live with
this substitute.
But I do want to note that in passing this substitute,
the council would be freezing wages for several
years for the lowest wage workforce in Chicago in the
midst of the greatest cost of living increase in United States
history.
I also want to note that all of you, we care deeply about
small businesses, and we
are actually the ones who proposed a differentiation for small businesses
because we care about small businesses.
But I also want to remind everybody that you have so many
other small businesses in each of your districts that are required to pay the
minimum wage. And it is unfair to
them that this one industry gets to pay so much
less. So we would not agree to any option that
doesn't ultimately get us to a full minimum wage.
In fact, the proposal Sam keeps talking about would increase
reliance on tips from 24% of your wage to being
40%, nearly 40% of your wage coming from tips, which is
problematic because, again, of the harassment and bias and wage theft
that reliance on tips creates. So if we are going to
agree to this substitute, which we said we can live with, this
has to be the end of the conversation.
You should not have to, we should not have to continuously
relitigate something that the city has already agreed
is the right thing to do, which is paying this lowest wage
workforce a full minimum wage with tips on top, like
every other workforce in the city of Chicago. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We'll move on to questions from committee members.
Before I do that, I want to recognize non-committee members, Viegas and Cruz, who
are here with us. I think I got everybody else.
By the way, I love democracy. Two great arguments on both sides of
the aisle there, but remember, both said that they can live with this, and they
support this effort. All right. I
did.
All right. Alderman Quinn, and you want to end, or you want
to go next? Okay, good. Alderman Quinn.
I recognize him.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Wanted to congratulate Alderman Burnett on his good work
here. It's been a pleasure to work with you.
You've been a gentleman all the way through.
So congratulations to you.
For me, it was important to get around this issue because I'm a border
ward, and I share borders with Bedford Park,
with Summit, with Burbank. And so to level the playing field
was very, very important as we try to attract new restaurants to the
13th Ward on the southwest side. So I'm delighted that we've come to a
compromise, and grateful for everybody's willingness to come to the
table. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Alderman. We'll go to Alderman Moore.
We could do one of two things, Alderman.
You can... Yeah. All right, very good.
Oh.
First of all, I want to thank Saru for her work on this.
I think one
of the things we try to do in the city council is
try, at least I do, I speak for myself, to do the
right thing and what we think is right and what we think
we are seeing or hearing out there.
Sometimes we have all the facts, sometimes we rely on subject
matter experts.
But sometimes when you then see the reality of things that's
happening, you have to make adjustments.
And for me, as much as I want to change the
world, I have to start beginning with changing the world around
me, and that priority for me is first and foremost the residents of the
17th Ward. And when I start hearing and
talking to the residents of the 17th Ward that work in our
restaurants and hearing from those
single young Black mothers who I've spoken
to, I supported this ordinance from the start, and I was happy to do so.
But when I started hearing from them, and they're saying,
"I want my tips back. I want it back to the way it was.
I'm not
getting what I was getting." When I start hearing that, I'm like, "Whoa." And I'm
not making this up. I'm going out there and I'm talking and I'm
listening to them. And I know we started out with
a one year, two year. People talked about repealing it
even. And what I'm saying here is that nobody's happy.
That's when I think there's something good that's on the table, when everybody's
not happy.
But people can work with it and live with it, and try to get some
reports
from this to see
what's really happening. And so I appreciate Saru's
comments. I appreciate the fact that she's standing where she's standing,
but she's saying they can live with this for a while.
But in the meantime,
restaurant industry, I'm going to ask you to talk to your people.
As we pull this back, people got to stop doing that
automatic gratuity. We have to talk about that.
Because when people are seeing that, there are people who are
not leaving tips.
They just not leaving tips at all. And so once they
see that automatic gratuity, they say, "Y'all got it already.
I ain't putting nothing else up," when they would've put even more up
for those workers. So I need those conversations to take
place to stop this automatic gratuity so that these
workers can then get those tips that they were used to
getting, and that is my only request in this.
I know we can't codify that, but I would like to see that.
And if, as I see it and I go to restaurants, I know you got to do it for big
parties. I understand that. That's always been that way.
But for two people and all that stuff,
the workers are missing out on their tips for that in a way that
they were accustomed to. So I want to thank everybody
who worked on this.
Alderman Burnett, thanks for your leadership.
Thanks for the things that you said.
And I add this because I have to add this when we talk about food stamps.
I know historical. I am as pro-Black as they probably come.
But let me tell you, I know that I know people who
don't even want to pick up more hours because they don't want to get off of food
stamps as well, and that's a real-life
situation. And so let's not fall people into guilt
about this, but let's get to where we need to get to, to make
sure these young mothers that I represent especially,
that we're representing them well, and that's what I'm doing today by supporting
this ordinance. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Alderman. Any other questions from folks? If not...
Oh, of course.
Alderman Spasado. Forgive me.
Not that much older than that.
I was going to say LaSpada. Forgive me.
All right. I think I'm older in your head.
Don't mind this guy.
Thank you, Chairman.
Little difficult for me to support this, but I am about compromise, so I'm
glad you're a compromise.
I don't think I'm the only person here who understands tip workers.
I was a tip worker for 37 years. I knew what the consequences were.
Although I will admit, a good majority of it, it was a part-time job for me.
I didn't rely on that for my main income.
It was more of a luxury, an add-on to support my family, to make a better
life for my family. So this isn't
1876, everybody, as our one speaker tried to allude.
We're in 2026, so people are different now.
This is 2026. I'm a border ward
also, and tips are going down. Anybody talk to any friends
that's a tip worker, tips just aren't what they used to be.
And I tell you what, everybody in here should look in the mirror.
Everybody in the audience, in the council here, look in the mirror.
When you guys go out, when you have your fundraisers, do you tip the workers that
serve your party? Or you say, "Oh, they already get paid." When you go out to a
banquet, do you tip that banquet worker? Oh, you say, "Oh, they already get paid.
I don't have to tip them." So think about that.
These are people that count on these tips, rely on them.
For those of us that are more fortunate, and that would be pretty much everybody in
the city council, that makes a pretty decent wage, be a little more generous.
Help these people out. Don't keep talking about what's going on, what the problems
are. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
When you have your events-Be generous.
Be generous to your servers, your bartenders, and everybody else.
I will support this. I'm glad there was a compromise.
I always pride myself in saying I'm about compromise.
Not all that happy about it, being a border ward.
I know my workers are going to continue to get hurt.
We have some very good business owners in this
city. I always hate mentioning people, but I always like to mention
Sam and Let Us Entertain You. You'll get jobs over there.
Sam Sanchez, not Sam Toya. You guys, you get a job over there, you're making a
pretty damn good living. Those are six-figure livings. All right?
Those people make a decent living.
Now, I don't know what's going to happen in the city, that they know the employees
are going to be making more in the future, but we're going to worry about what's
going on now. I will support this, but let's just think about exactly what we're
doing here. And the main thing for everybody in this room, let's think
about being a little more generous.
If your ceiling is 20%, then maybe you should stay home and not go out to eat.
Okay? All right? Your floor should be 25% to 30% in my opinion.
And that's about it. So appreciate it, Chairman. Thank you.
All right.
That was two minutes, 22 seconds. Good job.
Anybody else? Seeing none, we'll go-- Okay, go ahead, Alder
Vasquez.
Yeah, I just want to thank all of y'all for the amount of work y'all put in to get
to a compromise as well as both sides of the table.
I'll just say, if you're going to
tip 20, you should probably come out and support the businesses also.
They're willing to take any money out here because it is tough for all the
businesses as we hear as well. So just want to thank you all for the work done.
I'm glad there's a compromise because it had been contentious for some time.
I know it took a lot of work. Thank you all very much.
I appreciate that, Alder. And we'll finish with the original sponsor,
Alderwoman Fuentes. Go ahead.
Thank you, Chairman. First I want to thank One Fair
Wage, Women Employed, the Illinois Restaurant Association, Aldermen
Burnett, Quinn, and Villegas,
and ultimately, this committee's chair, Alderman Rodriguez.
We spent a lot of hours. I think we landed this deal almost at about
midnight last night,
coming to a compromise that people can live with.
Look, as the original sponsor of One Fair Wage,
I am committed to making sure that people in this city make a livable
wage, that women can go to work and not be sexually harassed,
that we can have a work environment where people are safe, and where
people don't have to make difficult decisions between paying a utility bill or
paying rent. In a moment where we are having the
largest affordability crisis that we have seen in a generation,
people deserve to know that they can still afford the roof over their head.
And that's in every industry. People deserve that.
And I still believe that One Fair Wage is the way to achieve
that, that phasing out the subminimum wage is the
way to achieve that. And I want to recognize that we are
living in a economic climate where people currently have concerns.
The cost of food has gone up. The cost of gas, property taxes, rent.
People's insurance policies are doubling, both medical and property
insurance. And I think we have a responsibility as the council
to take in all of the factors. You've heard it
today, we are not all happy about this compromise.
The Restaurant Association's not happy. One Fair Wage is not happy.
Coalition's not happy. And I don't know if workers are going to read the
news this evening and be happy.
But I do know that we are committed to phasing
out the subminimum wage, and we will allow
for a longer ramp-up for small businesses.
In a ward like mine, where we have small businesses on every single
corridor, I know how important it is to support those owners and remain
committed to those tipped employees that they will one day receive a
full minimum wage. And so I ask for my colleagues'
favorable support on this ordinance, an ordinance and a
substitute that all parties have articulated in testimony
today that they can live with, and one that I will live with.
And so once again, I want to thank those who put in
time
to the substitute. And I agree, I hope this is the last time we have to
litigate this in the City of Chicago, because both workers
and business owners deserve the very best of us, and they
deserve consistency and transparency.
We believe this substitute will provide just that.
So, Chairman, if it's okay with you, I would like a roll call vote
on this ordinance.
Oh, you're not a committee member.
I'll take a motion from Alder Ramirez.
Do pass on the item. All those in favor signify by saying "aye."
Any opposed? Any opinion to chair? The ayes have it.
Thank you very much everyone.
The chair will report this as a do pass recommendation at the next city council
meeting on Wednesday, May 20th.
That was written twice. With there be no further business before the committee,
I'll take a motion from Alderman Quinn to adjourn.
All those in favor signify by saying "aye." Hearing
independent chair, the ayes have it.
This concludes the meeting of the Committee on Workforce Development.
Thank you very much, everyone.