KEVIN BESSLER
Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) – Illinois’ minimum wage is set to go up to $15 an hour beginning Jan. 1. Tipped wages will go to $9 an hour. Some want that to be abolished and for tipped workers to get the minimum wage.
The group One Fair Wage says Illinois has a “unique opportunity to lead by prioritizing policies that deliver meaningful wage increases and economic security for low-wage and tipped workers.”
They recently rallied in Springfield to urge legislators to abolish the tipped wage.
“Statewide wage reform is a commonsense solution to ensure all workers, including tipped workers, earn fair wages while supporting Illinois families and strengthening our economy,” said One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman. “This isn’t a partisan issue – it’s a matter of ensuring every worker in Illinois has the opportunity to earn a living wage.”
Asked about the push, state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, said that idea hasn’t been proven effective.
“It’s nonsensical. It doesn’t work,” Caulkins said at an unrelated news conference. “And the people in the restaurant industry, we sat in committee hearings when they showed up, the workers don’t want that.”
The issue came to a head earlier this year before the sponsor of the bill to abolish the tipped wage, state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, said there wasn’t enough support. She may bring the issue back up when the new General Assembly returns next year.
Caulkins said ending the tipped wage won’t work. He said embracing Republican ideas of lower taxes and fewer regulations is the way.
“This is the party that you need to stand with. We will stand up for you, the working people of this state. We will make your lives better. Give us an opportunity,” Caulkins said. “We need to reject this woke agenda.”
A recent study from the Employment Policies Institute showed that full-service restaurant employment in the Chicago area declined in the months leading up to the city’s July 1 wage increases.
