City Council meeting, October 6, 2023

When: Fri, Oct 6, 2023, 10:45 AM (Chicago time)
Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
Status: Scheduled & Published
Body: full City Council
Video: https://vimeo.com/871501097
Transcript: full text (17,941 words, official captions)

Meeting notes

AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.

The City Council met to take up the One Fair Wage ordinance (SO2023-0002995), which phases out the subminimum wage for tipped workers and had been deferred and published at the October 4 meeting. Ten public commenters spoke, mostly restaurant workers and advocates urging passage, along with a restaurant owner who supported it. In debate, supporters cited low and unstable pay, sexual harassment and the 1938 exclusion of tipped workers from federal minimum wage law, while opponents including Alderpersons Lee, Sposato, Napolitano and Hopkins warned of restaurant closures, job losses, service charges and impacts on border wards, and Alderperson Raymond A. Lopez raised concerns about how the item had been noticed. The ordinance passed with 36 yeas and 10 nays as read aloud, and the next meeting was set for October 11, 2023.

Topics: One Fair Wage ordinance, Tipped minimum wage, Restaurant industry, Sexual harassment of workers, Small business impact, Remote participation, Public comment

Agenda items discussed

18:29 Motion to allow six alderpersons to participate remotely under Rule 59: passed
23:32 Public comment: discussed
52:41 Motion to allow Alderperson Stephanie D. Coleman to participate remotely: passed
56:12 One Fair Wage ordinance amending minimum hourly wage for occupations receiving gratuities (SO2023-0002995): passed
2:12:12 Motion to reconsider the One Fair Wage vote: failed
2:12:45 Ordinance setting next meeting for October 11, 2023: passed

Alderpersons who spoke

William E. Hall (alderperson): Said he was voting yes in honor of his grandfather and that workers should not have to make a dollar out of 15 cents as costs rise. (57:15)
Nicole T. Lee (alderperson): Said she struggled with the ordinance after talking with restaurant owners and workers in Chinatown and Bridgeport, who feel it will hurt the local economy. (58:14); Said business owners asked her to stand up for them and announced she would vote no. (1:00:00)
David H. Moore (alderperson): Said the ordinance does not even reach a livable wage, that new businesses told him they already pay this way, and called for reducing bureaucratic barriers for businesses. (1:00:37)
Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (alderperson): As a small business owner and former tipped worker, acknowledged business concerns but supported a living wage to attract young people and artists to Chicago. (1:02:48)
Julia M. Ramirez (alderperson): Described her late brother's tips being taken by an employer and supported stability for young restaurant workers. (1:05:17)
Jeanette B. Taylor (alderperson): Said restaurants were bailed out during COVID while workers were not, and that tipped workers were left out of the previous minimum wage increase. (1:07:22); Cited sexualization of women servers and long work hours keeping parents away from children. (1:09:09)
Daniel La Spata (alderperson): Recalled working as a server at a $2.35 tipped wage and cited a study on tipped workers' pay, harassment and homelessness. (1:10:30); Said predictions of harm did not come true after the $15 minimum wage and Fair Workweek, and noted the phased implementation allows study. (1:13:04)
Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez (alderperson): Recalled a worker shouting that tipped workers were left out when the $15 minimum wage passed and dedicated her vote to him. (1:15:07)
Ruth Cruz (alderperson): Said every worker deserves dignity and a living wage, drawing on her family's experience in tipped jobs. (1:16:38)
Michael D. Rodriguez (alderperson): Compared the ordinance to Ford's 1914 wage increase and noted the Workforce committee voted 9 to 3 to advance it. (1:18:21)
Jeylú B. Gutiérrez (alderperson): As Workforce vice chair and a former hospitality worker, urged colleagues to vote yes. (1:20:36)
Timothy R. Knudsen (alderperson): Said he had proposed an alternative ordinance but would vote yes, citing the five-year phase-in negotiated with the Illinois Restaurant Association and the mayor's commitment to continued talks with restaurants. (1:21:49)
Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Thanked sponsor Fuentes and the mayor and urged the state to follow Chicago's lead. (1:24:17); Criticized lobbyists for spending against the measure. (1:27:44)
Angela Clay (alderperson): Said the change gives tipped workers stability to budget and called for enforcement against businesses that do not comply. (1:29:20)
Desmon C. Yancy (alderperson): As a former union organizer, supported a fair day's pay and described a friend in a tipped job earning more slowly than he did. (1:32:56)
Nicholas Sposato (alderperson): Said he agreed only with Alderperson Nicole T. Lee and that the city should instead educate customers on how to tip. (1:34:33); Cited restaurant failure rates and thin profit margins and said border wards would lose businesses. (1:36:08); Said the Restaurant Association agreed to the ramp-up only under pressure and called the ordinance a job and business killer. (1:37:13)
Carlos Ramírez-Rosa (alderperson): Said tipped workers were left out of the earlier minimum wage increase and thanked the coalition, sponsor Fuentes and the mayor. (1:39:23)
Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Described working 12 years as a tipped skycap at a higher hourly rate and said he could not vote against what he once had. (1:41:55); Urged the city to streamline permitting and business processes so employers can afford higher wages. (1:45:10); Said acting on the item without proper posting jeopardizes the result and warned against skipping process and rules. (1:46:32)
Anthony V. Napolitano (alderperson): Said restaurants were hit hardest by the pandemic and crime and that the ordinance would push businesses in border wards to the suburbs. (1:48:17); Predicted restaurants would move to counter-service models and cut server jobs, and urged working with businesses instead. (1:49:56)
Brian Hopkins (alderperson): Predicted the ordinance would pass but that some restaurants would close, citing a restaurant closure in his ward with thin profit margins. (1:55:50); Predicted restaurants would eliminate table service or add standard service charges that customers would treat as the tip, and said he would vote no. (1:57:09)
Jessica L. Fuentes (alderperson): As sponsor, said tipped hospitality workers had been told to wait since the Pullman Porters won a full wage, and cited harassment of Black and brown women. (1:59:36); Said the ramp-up gives workers a raise each year while letting employers adjust, and asked members voting no to join the fight at the state level. (2:04:50)

Exchanges between members

1:02:57 Manaa-Hoppenworth acknowledged Lee's concern about impacts on Asian-owned small businesses.
1:10:57 La Spata said he was right there with Manaa-Hoppenworth as a former server.
1:14:38 Rodríguez Sánchez thanked Fuentes for introducing the ordinance.
1:21:22 Gutiérrez thanked Fuentes and Rodriguez for their work on the ordinance.
1:21:22 Gutiérrez thanked Rodriguez for his work on the ordinance.
1:24:35 Sigcho-López thanked Fuentes as sponsor of the ordinance.
1:33:59 Yancy thanked Fuentes for her leadership on the ordinance.
1:33:59 Yancy thanked Chairman Michael D. Rodriguez for his leadership on the ordinance.
1:34:39 Sposato said he agreed with Lee's position on the ordinance.
1:42:13 Lopez remarked on La Spata having worked at Red Lobster.
1:44:16 Lopez responded to Sposato's restaurant profit margin figure, saying he believed margins are even lower.
1:48:24 Napolitano said that, like Sposato, he represents a border ward and expects harm to it.
2:03:43 Fuentes echoed La Spata that the sky is not going to fall.

Roll-call votes at this meeting

Amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 6-105 by modifying Section 6-105-030 regarding minimum hourly wage in occupations receiving gratuities (SO2023-0002995): Passed 36 yea, 10 nay, 2 absent