July 14, 2006
Chicago News Department
Chicago's Living Wage
Apparently, Chicago is on the brink of passing a "living wage" ordinance that would require large big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target to pay employees a minimum salary of $10 per hour with an additional $3 per hour going toward benefits.
One of the biggest problems with the "living wage" idea is that the Chicago City Council can't actually make the big-box retailers pay a higher wage. All it can do is prevent them from paying low wages. Retailers will then have to choose between paying higher wages and paying no wages at all.
Target and Wal-Mart have already responded with threats to pull out of the Chicago market. Home Depot is expected to follow suit.
"Wal-Mart and Target could pay their people a living wage. Then we wouldn't have this problem, and people could actually live on the money they made," [Ald. Leslie] Hairston said.
First of all, not everybody wants to live off their wages. A lot of people are working only to supplement their income.
Second, nobody is forcing people to work at Wal-Mart. They can quit and look for another job any time they want. If the local job market makes that hard, it's not Wal-Mart's fault.
Fortunately, Mayor Daley is trying to put a stop to this bad idea before the City Council scares away the dozens of big-box stores planning to open in Chicago in the next few years. Thousands of jobs depend on the City making the right decision.
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Did you see the Chicagoist post on it? I realize I shouldn't expect them to understand basic economics, but they nearly made my head explode with all the stupidity. Enjoy, especially if you're less irritable than I've been lately!
http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2006/07/14/see_spot_scram.php
The "big box" retailers offer first job possibilities to many people. That's why the alderman for the 37th Ward on the West Side jumped at the oppty to have a Wal-Mart in the low-income Austin neighborhood.
This is freakin amazing. The city councel of Chicago DID pass this STUPID amendment! I will laugh my butt off if all the "big box" retailers just pull out of the Chicago market completely. Then what? Will the Chicago city councel go after Restaurants too? It is plain and clear the intentions of that corrupted government up there. Socialism doesn't work and if Chicago's masses of the unemployed pay the price perhaps they will pay attention next time who they vote in office to represent them. Personally I think this is sad, pathetic, and comunist!
For every action there is an equal or greater reaction. In this case, the city of Chicago is forcing certain targeted retailers to either pay people per their ordinance or not pay people at all. I'm still waiting to see some retailers get creative ato get around this one by technically not having few if any employees working in their stores and simply contract the work out to firms that aren't affected by this law.
They did go after restaurants. Recall foie gras law.