Alejandro Villanueva is interviewed at a demonstration supporting the repeal of Initiative 77 outside the John A. Wilson District Building on July 9, 2018. (Photo by Becky Harlan / NPR)

In two sessions at the Wilson Building today, the D.C. Council overturned Initiative 77, the ballot measure that gradually raises the minimum wage employers are required to pay tipped workers.

Lawmakers also nixed a compromise — introduced by Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) — that would have raised the wage only for the city’s lowest-paid tipped workers, such as parking attendants and bellhops.

A repeal bill approved by the Council still needs to go through the standard 30-day Congressional review period and be signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, which she is expected to do.

D.C. voters approved the referendum in June, but it has been embroiled in controversy ever since, with restaurant workers and owners calling on the Council to throw it out despite its win at the polls. In a marathon hearing at the Wilson Building in September, opponents testified that raising employers’ labor costs would destroy jobs, discourage tipping and devastate the restaurant and bar industries.

Supporters of 77 contend there’s no evidence customers tip less when workers are paid more, and other U.S. cities with a single minimum wage still have thriving restaurant scenes. Many proponents have heaped criticism on council members who backed the repeal, saying it’s akin to voter suppression.

Silverman made an impassioned plea on behalf of her proposed compromise Tuesday morning, calling on her colleagues to face tipped workers seated in the council chambers.

“Look them in the eye and tell them that their vote doesn’t matter and they don’t deserve a higher wage,” Silverman said.

But the plea was unsuccessful, and Silverman’s compromise amendment failed by an 8-5 vote.

In a later session, Council members approved Chairman Phil Mendelson’s repeal bill 8-5, dealing a death blow to Initiative 77.

But the repeal bill that passed Tuesday also makes concessions to those who say the tipped-wage system enables sexual harassment and wage theft. Taking language from Silverman’s compromise amendment, Mendelson’s bill:

• Requires employers of tipped workers to undergo training on sexual harassment and wage-theft laws

• Calls on D.C.’s Department of Employment Services to create a website about the city’s wage and hour rules

• Directs the mayor to set up a tip line for workers to report wage theft; and
• Requires tipped workers’ employers to use a third-party payroll system that submits wage information to the employment agency.

Adding the conciliatory language was a shrewd move from Mendelson, making it easier to whip votes from legislators who otherwise may have leaned toward Silverman’s amendment. On the dais, Silverman compared the maneuver to decapitation.

The Council is also expected to approve an emergency measure that immediately blocks the first phase of Initiative 77 wage increases from going into effect.

If the referendum had become law, employers would have had to start paying tipped workers $4.50 per hour, not including tips, as of Oct. 9. The current tipped wage is $3.89, not including tips. After this year, the wage would have risen an additional $1.50 annually, until it reached $15 by 2025.

Opponents of Initiative 77 are celebrating the win, declaring it a victory for tipped workers. Meanwhile, activists who got Initiative 77 on the ballot say pro-repeal council members should expect a backlash from voters.

“Council members who vote against their constituents need to know that there will be consequences,” said Diana Ramirez, who leads the worker advocacy group ROC-DC. “Voters are going to remember that their vote was thrown away.”

This story first appeared on WAMU.