In the bustling city of Chicago, the legacy of slavery and racial inequality continues to cast a long shadow in the form of an insidious, everyday practice that perpetuates cycles of poverty for Black communities: tips.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is now attempting to confront this by abolishing the subminimum-tipped-wage system — a long-accepted policy rooted in a history of exploitation that disproportionately affects Black and brown Chicagoans. Despite efforts from organizations such as One Fair Wage and dedicated labor advocates, this discriminatory practice has persisted to this point largely unchallenged, leaving many people toiling long hours in the hospitality industry for wages inadequate to meet their basic needs.
To understand the roots of subminimum-tipped-wage racism, it’s crucial to appreciate the history of the United States hospitality industry and the treatment of workers upon which it has been built. Before the early 1800s, hospitality in North America was more of a cultural practice and not yet a full-blown formal industry. As a domestic practice, it was especially celebrated as the domain of the American South.
When hospitality began to grow into a lucrative industry, an idea from Europe called a “tip” became weaponized after the Civil War by U.S. employers, especially in hotels and restaurants, which were looking for ways to avoid paying newly liberated Black workers their rightful wages. This tactic for maximizing extraction quickly flourished in the Southern states.
In Europe, tipping didn’t replace guaranteed wages; this was an inventive, cynical twist added as tips crossed the Atlantic and were put to use by white employers who resented the new expectation that they treat formerly enslaved Black workers as equal to white workers — at least with respect to their right to wages for the work they performed.
The legacy of slavery has undeniably influenced the perception and valuation of labor in American bars, restaurants and hotels, perpetuating a system in which tipped workers are treated as disposable and underpaid and have few legal protections.
The statistics are damning. Tipped workers of color in Chicago live in poverty at a rate nearly 40% higher than their white counterparts. And the issue is deeply intersectional: Women of color in the industry are affected at an alarming rate, with almost 25% higher poverty rates than their male counterparts.
Due to borderline-unlivable working conditions for a large number of its workers, the hospitality industry suffers from extremely high turnover rates compared with other sectors of the U.S. economy.
Beyond economic matters, the subminimum-tipped-wage system reinforces an environment in which physical and verbal abuse and sexual harassment — from both management and customers — are normalized. The best shifts often go to workers perceived as docile and who management is confident won’t fight back when trampled upon, perpetuating discriminatory and predatory norms in the industry.
While the call to abolish tipped wages supported by Johnson is essential, we must recognize that transitioning to a complete minimum wage without tips may not guarantee a livable income for workers. With the high cost of living and rising rents, the minimum wage is not enough for a full-time worker to survive. Hospitality workers need affordable health care options, tangible solutions for combating wage theft by employers and effective protections against sexual harassment and retaliation for unionizing efforts — while they continue to receive tips on top of a truly livable minimum guaranteed wage.
It is crucial to acknowledge the concerns of hospitality workers who make a significant portion of their income through tips and fear the elimination of the tipped minimum wage. They worry that such a change could disrupt tipping culture and patterns, potentially reducing their overall earnings. For instance, a bartender at a high-end bar might benefit from lucrative $600 nights thanks to tips, but without that revenue, they could earn little more than dishwashers and bussers who currently barely scrape by — or don’t — on the minimum wage.
To move the hospitality industry forward toward more equitable wages and universal protections for workers, we must avoid pitting workers against each other in this discussion.
Our goal should be to create an industry that welcomes both workers and customers and replace the current one that routinely sacrifices workers’ well-being to cater to customers’ whims and boost owners’ profits. To achieve this will require fostering solidarity among workers; crude approaches to abolishing the subminimum-tipped wage that ignore how this could produce antagonism between workers will ultimately undermine workers’ interests.
A progressive mayor in Chicago is encouraging for workers, but we must not forget that we cannot rely on legislation as a substitute for organizing to protect ourselves. Unionization, pooled tip arrangements that fairly compensate front- and back-of-the-house workers and other collective practices through which workers can protect one another play a vital role in safeguarding the rights and livelihoods of workers in the hospitality industry.
We should also look to other U.S. jurisdictions that have eliminated the tipped minimum wage to avoid pitfalls that could arise in the process and also to reassure workers who are fearful of change. We should take courage from the remarkable industry growth and stable tipping practices seen in the seven states that have abolished the subminimum-tipped wage. Even the owner-aligned, anti-worker National Restaurant Association revealed that states that do away with a subminimum-tipped wage experience higher rates of restaurant industry employment and sales growth compared with states that still allow it. This evidence underscores the viability of Johnson’s plans to eliminate the subminimum-tipped wage without adversely affecting restaurant jobs or sales.
It is high time we heed the rallying cry to end this long-standing legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism. By abolishing the subminimum-tipped wage, we can empower workers, dismantle discriminatory practices and pave the way for a fairer, more equitable industry and society.
Raeghn Draper is a writer, hospitality worker and co-founder of the Chicago Hospitality Accountable Advocacy Database, a mutual aid and labor organizing network for Chicago bar and restaurant workers.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].