Living Wages in Chicago – A Victory For Labor?
July 27, 2006 by Marc Lamont Hill
Yesterday, Chicago’s City Coucil approved an ordinace that will require big-box retailers to pay a living wage. The measure requires mega-retailers with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet to pay workers at least $10 an hour in wages plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010. The current minimum wage in Illinois is $6.50 an hour and the federal minimum is $5.15. Following in the footsteps of Sante Fe, Albequerque, San Francisco, and Washington, the decision makes Chicago the largest city in the nation to require living wages from large companies.
Of course, the Council’s decision was met with considerable opposition from Mayor Richard Daly and Wal-Mart (surprise!), one of the city’s biggest companies. By increasing wages, they argue, companies will have little incentive to stay in the city, thereby driving out companies, job opportunities, and possibilities for development within the city’s poorest sections. In fact, Walmart has already gone on record saying that it will strongly consider relocating to the suburbs if the they are forced to increase wages. Insiders say that Target, the city’s other major retailer, will not be far behind.
Given this reality, the question becomes: What good is a high minimum wage if there are no jobs?
This isn’t to suggest that we concede to the exploitative labor practices of major companies. On the contrary, we must work more diligently to anticipate the remarkably creative ways that companies resist and circumvent policy initiaives that privilege workers. In this instance, we must strongly advocate an increase in the Federal minimum wage –there hasn’t been one in nearly 10 years– so that companies like Wal-Mart and Target can’t hold local economies hostage when they demand basic human rights.
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