Chicago Considers Living Wage For Big Box Stores

A majority of City Council members support a bill that requires large retailers -- with at least 75,000 square feet and operated by companies with at least $1 billion in annual sales -- to pay a "living wage" of $10 per hour plus $3 per hour in benefits. Smaller stores can continue paying employees the state minimum wage of $6.50 an hour. Jennifer Sung, a lawyer with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which helped draft the proposal, said the measure would withstand legal challenges. She said courts had ruled that distinctions could be made among industries if there was a rational basis for doing so. She also explained that Illinois grants local governments powers to pass regulations to promote a city's health and welfare.

"Over the next two years, Wal-Mart plans to build more than 50 stores nationwide in city neighborhoods in need of development; the Chicago store scheduled to open in September is the first. 'We have made a pledge to come to urban areas where communities have been ignored and underserved,' said John Bisio, a spokesman for Wal-Mart. He said such a wage law would not affect plans for the Chicago store."