Schakowsky Statement on the City of Chicago Vote to Increase the Minimum Wage

WASHINGTON, DC – “Today is a great day for hard working Chicagoans. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a vast majority of the City Council passed an ordinance that will raise the minimum wage for all Chicagoans to $13 an hour by 2019.

In addition, this measure gives tipped workers in Chicago a long-needed raise. Currently, tipped workers across Illinois only get a minimum wage of $4.95 an hour – in Chicago that will increase to $5.45 by July 2015 and $5.95 by July 2016.

Men and women in our city who work hard every day, some who work multiple jobs, should not have to live in poverty. Throughout this year, I have joined Chicago workers and stood in solidarity with their demand for a raise. Today’s action means their voices have been heard and we have taken a big step in the right direction.

It is abundantly clear that Americans all across the nation want, need and deserve a raise. In Illinois, voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour in 2015. Today’s vote makes that a reality. The minimum wage in Chicago will rise to $11 an hour in 2017 and to $13 an hour in 2019.

However, the fight to increase wages is not over. We must keep working until the minimum wage is increased statewide. Legislation is in progress in Springfield right now to make sure hard-working Illinoisans, all across our state, get the minimum wage increase they need. We must also continue to push to raise the national minimum wage and I will continue that fight in Congress. Today is a great victory and I look forward to the victories to come for hard-working families.”