Chicago’s City Council will wait an extra two days before voting on whether to abolish the tipped minimum wage. The vote, expected during the Wednesday, October 4 council meeting, has been pushed to Friday, October 7 thanks to a clerical error.

City Clerk Anna Valencia blamed “an administrative and human issue” for the delay in what’s expected to be a done deal. The ordinance has 26 sponsors — the votes have been there for months. Still, supporters listened to concerns and brokered a compromise with the Illinois Restaurant Association that will gradually raise the tipped minimum wage over five years until it reaches the standard wage, currently at $15.80 per hour in Chicago.

While activists at One Fair Wage, the national group that’s been pushing similar measures across the country, have been confident since August that the ordinance would pass, objectors have been hoping to bargain. The transition could be especially jolting to independent restaurants and the revised ordinance, updated with input from the restaurant association, includes a $500,000 pool to help restaurants adapt. The fund comes from private sources, not taxpayer money.

One Fair Wage has also announced a news conference with Mayor Brandon Johnson after the Friday vote. They plan to announce a training program to help restaurants transition over the next five years. They’ll also offer $10,000 to $1 million grants to “BIPOC-owned small business restaurants to help support them in implementing the law and...

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