The late, great U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan achieved immortality during a debate about Social Security reform in the 80s when he said that participants were entitled to their own opinions, but they were not entitled to their own facts. The debate roiling the city of Chicago over the fate of a pay raise for thousands of restaurant servers and other tipped workers recalls that quote, especially as factions in the debate cite different facts to support their positions ... while employees wait to see what will happen to their jobs and their paychecks.
First, some background: owners of restaurants and taverns have long been able to pay workers less than the "mandated" minimum wage, with the idea that those workers can (and often do) make up that wage in tips. However, advocates for hospitality workers say many servers and bartenders ... a significant percentage of whom are women and people of color ... see those tips stolen by managers and owners, and face retaliation if they report that theft.
The solution to that issue in Chicago was the "One Fair Wage" ordinance, approved by City Council at the beginning of Brandon Johnson's mayoralty. Under the ordinance, the "tip credit" will be phased out by July of 2028, with all workers subject to the city's minimum wage of $16.60/hour. It's widely considered one of the mayor's key legislative accomplishments, but its future is increasingly uncertain following attempts in Chicago and Springfield to slow or stop it.
This is where the "alternative facts" come in.
The Illinois Restaurant Association, which has long opposed eliminating the tip credit, is leading the latest charge to pump the brakes on the One Fair Wage ordinance, citing surveys suggesting owners are raising menu prices and cutting back on hours and shifts because of financial pressures brought on by, among other things, the rising cost of labor. In addition, they cite federal statistics which show the city's restaurant workforce has dropped by 8% since the ordinance took effect.
Ahead of a City Council vote last month on a proposal to freeze the tipped wage at its current rate of $12.62/hour, some restaurant owners and workers joined an industry event to talk about how it's affected their bottom lines. One of them was Eric Williams from Bronzeville Winery, 4420 S. Cottage Grove Ave., who told reporters his business lost $60,000 in 2025, $40,000 of which was tied to One Fair Wage. One of his servers, Shanell Oliver, said she had seen the effects in her paycheck: "I'm working fewer shifts, I'm taking home much less money, which is putting a real strain on my family."
On the other side, however, Mayor Johnson has repeatedly referenced city figures showing the number of restaurant license renewals has been relatively steady since the ordinance's adoption. "There is little to no evidence to support the claim that this ordinance has led to restaurants closing," the mayor said back on March 25. He and labor advocates have maintained that wealthier restaurant owners are trying to balance their books on the backs of their servers and other employees, which the mayor said is "shameful" and "immoral."
And when 30 aldermen approved that freeze to the tipped wage, the mayor went to a restaurant in Woodlawn on the city's South side to veto it, telling a crowd of supporters inside "Let's Eat To Live," 621 E. 67th St., that the push was "tone-deaf" given the many challenges working-class people face in the city. "I'm gonna make sure that working people get paid in our city," the mayor said to cheers from the crowd.
But even the owner of the restaurant that hosted the mayor's veto ceremony, Carmella Coq'mard Muhammad, admitted she'd had to tighten her apron strings a bit. "It (One Fair Wage) does bring a little bit of weight on the restaurant," she told reporters, "but we are being charged with taking care of our people."
And as supporters of a freeze look for the 34 votes needed to override the mayor's veto, state lawmakers sympathetic to the restaurant industry have advanced a measure that would take the ability to set or erase tip credits out of the hands of local authorities and leave it up to the state. It's seen as an end-run around Chicago's ordinance, and the mayor's not a fan.
"I don't believe this legislation speaks to what people are calling for in this moment," he told me March 28 after appearing at a "No Kings" rally in Chicago. "It's not only short-sighted, it's misguided. (Cities are) closest to the challenges, which means we're closest to understanding how we provide solutions to those challenges."
And Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose signature would be needed to make the proposal law if it passes both the House and Senate, may be tipping his hand about his position on the bill. "I need to speak to the restaurant industry" before taking a public stand, he told me March 30 in Chicago, which may be a hint about where he'll eventually fall. The governor and the mayor don't have a close relationship, but the governor can ill afford to upset labor supporters as he looks beyond this fall's race for governor to potential future national openings.
So for now, the Battle Of The Wage Facts focuses on April 15, when aldermen are expected to attempt to override the mayor's veto of the tipped-wage freeze, and people on both sides of the issue say they're each trying to do right by the people who work at your local restaurants and taverns. And by the way: regardless of what wage they're getting, remember to tip them ... they work hard. And that's a fact.
The late, great U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan achieved immortality during a debate about Social Security reform in the 80s when he said that participants were entitled to their own opinions, but they were not entitled to their own facts.
