On Nov. 12, the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA) and dozens of restaurant industry operators and servers held a press conference to oppose Raise Chicago—an ordinance being considered by the Chicago City Council that would eliminate the tip credit in restaurants.
The event took place at Norman’s Bistro, 1001 E. 43rd St.
Raise Chicago proposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021 and eliminating the tip credit by 2023. The IRA opposes this ordinance, saying it would force a 144-percent labor-cost increase on employers with tipped employees while driving up costs for restaurantgoers.
“On average, 95 to 97 cents of every dollar taken in by a restaurant goes right back into the food, employees, maintenance and all the other costs that come with running the business,” IRA President/CEO Sam Toia said. “We have very little room to absorb huge increases in labor costs and remain in business. This is why the tip credit is so crucial to restaurants and the hundreds of thousands of people we employ in Chicago.”