With a progressive mayor who is a champion of the “One Fair Wage” campaign, it’s not a matter of if, but when, Chicago eliminates the “sub-minimum wage” for tipped workers.

Now, an influential ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson is proposing yet another mandate with potential to heap even higher costs on small businesses struggling to stay alive.

Before the City Council adjourns for the summer, Workforce Development Chair Mike Rodriguez (22nd) plans to use Wednesday’s meeting to introduce an ordinance ensuring that every private and public sector employee in Chicago could earn one hour of paid leave for every 15 hours worked.

That amounts to 15 or more days of paid time off every year for the average full-time employee — leave available “for any reason,” not simply for illness.

Rodriguez called it “the largest expansion of paid time off” granted by any American city.

He plans a news conference before Wednesday’s Council meeting flanked by Starbucks employees and domestic workers and joined by Chicago Federation of Labor Secretary-Treasurer Don Villar, Raise the Floor Executive Director Sophia Zaman, a co-chair of Johnson’s Labor and Workforce Transition Committee and by officials from Arise Chicago, Women Employe and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.

“Working people need this time. This is normal for a lot of salaried individuals. We want working-class people to have the same benefits that all people have,” Rodriguez said.

“The state did this already. We want to get rid of sick leave and make leave more general.”

Rodriguez argued unions are gaining a foothold into businesses without unions because post-pandemic workers are demanding higher pay and benefits and more humane treatment.  

“Businesses are having trouble keeping their workers right now. And they’re having trouble with retention, which is the biggest cost for workers, particularly low-wage workers. That’s why you see Starbucks workers striking. That’s why you see UPS workers striking. That’s why you see ride-share workers trying to improve their working conditions. We are doing so with this paid leave policy,” the chairman said.

“The fact is, we’re hemorrhaging people in all sorts of jobs right now. We want to be able to attract working people to our city. And this is one way to do it.”

Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia is already negotiating with Johnson’s administration to determine how long restaurants will have to level the playing field for tipped workers and phase out the current “sub-minimum wage” of $9.48-an-hour, compared to the city’s standard minimum wage, which rose to $15.80-an-hour on July 1.

Toia said feared another mandate on top of that edict.

“We can’t just keep piling all of these ordinances on and making it more expensive for the small restaurants. They’re still in a very fragile state coming out of the pandemic,” Toia said.

“Inflation is still very high. … Labor costs have gone up a lot since the end of the pandemic. So has product cost. Any kind of proposed legislation will have a profound impact on these businesses and the future of the restaurant industry for many years to come. We really need to be careful.”

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lavin and Rob Karr, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, were out of the country and unavailable for comment. Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, could not be reached.

Johnson campaigned on a promise to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers that has disproportionately impacted African Americans in general and Black women in particular.

The only question is how long the restaurant industry will have to level the playing field.

Toia said Tuesday he’s been negotiating with the Johnson administration ever since the new mayor took office. But, he has “not agreed to anything.”

“I have members that have already eliminated tipped credit. I have members that say, ‘Get us a long runway.’ And I have members that are saying, `We need to fight this,’” Toia said.

“I do not have a plurality. I do not have a consensus around this. I listen to my members. And my members are … in a very fragile state right now. And they’re not sure they can take on more labor costs and more product cost with inflation being so high…It would be very hard for the hospitality industry to survive or prosper in the city of Chicago if you put both of these ordinances out there at the same time.”

The too-many-mandates complaint is not new.

Business leaders made the same argument after now-former Mayor Lori Lightfoot raised the city’s minimum wage to $15-an-hour, approved a predictable scheduling ordinance and imposed a host of worker protections during the pandemic.