D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum

[Triana]

Source: Washington Post

D.C. lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring certain large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city’s minimum wage, a day after Wal-Mart warned the law would jeopardize their plans in the city.

The retail giant on Tuesday linked the future of at least three planned stores in the District to the proposal. But the ultimatum did not change any legislators’ minds. The 8-5 vote, which came after a hour-long debate in a packed council chamber, matched the outcome of an earlier vote on the matter.

“The question here is a living wage; it’s not whether Wal-Mart comes or stays,” said Vincent Orange (D-At Large), a lead backer of the legislation who added the city did not need to kowtow to threats: “We’re at a point where we don’t need retailers. Retailers need us.”

Should the bill be signed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray and pass a congressional review period, retailers with corporate sales of $1 billion or more and operating in spaces 75,000 square feet or larger would be required to pay employees no less than $12.50 an hour. The city’s minimum wage is $8.25.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-approves-living-wage-bill-over-wal-mart-ultimatum/2013/07/10/724aab6e-e96f-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html

[Laurian]

1. Fantastic. Love to see anyone stand up to Walmart.

[Triana]

2. Yes I'm very happy with this outcome. I hope more city councils do the same! n/t

[wtmusic]

31. +1

[Coyotl]

3. BOYCOTT Wal*Mart! Support your local unions!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

4. One small step for man, one giant step for mankind!

[dballance]

5. Who wants to bet WalMart folds and goes in anyway?

I don't see them giving up any market.

[ceonupe]

22. Or reconfigures stores to under 75,000ft

Most new Walmart stores now are the smaller format stores. I predict they make the store smaller by dividing it and leasing some space out.

The express and food store formats are going up everywhere.

I expect Walmart abandons one location and downsizes 2.

[mrmpa]

44. They'll stil have to pass zoning ordinances.................

and that's where the grassroot campaigners will make their stand.

[ceonupe]

48. They already passed zoning before

They already passed zoning before and will again.

Specificly because the store is owned by a separate company and already zoned. That company could reduce the store layout without requiring rezoning.

Watch and see you may be surprised. I don't think all 3 will open as orginally planned. Look at walmarts competitors in urban lower income markets? They are all smaller format stores. Family dollar and dollar general

[RedstDem]

61. store size won't matter in malwarts case

they clear over a billion annually

[ceonupe]

64. if you red the rule u have to have both over a billion and the sq-ft size

if you red the ordinance u have to have both over a billion and the sq-ft size.

otherwise corporate owned (fast food/cell phone stores) McDonald's (well over 1 billion annual sales) would be subject to the rule

[RedstDem]

71. well that sucks

[fasttense]

49. Yes, Wal-Mart is plotting how to get around this law as we speak.

That's the problem with thinking regulations will make corporations do the moral, rational thing. By allowing corporations to keep the wealth and power they make off their workers, with no input or voice from the workers, the corporation will always try to con, manipulate, lie and cheat to by-pass laws to restrict their abuses. You have to take away their wealth and power by putting workers on the board of directors. Mandating that boards of directors be made up of workers will make the corporation more democratic and less likely to abuse local workers.

Capitalism has got to be replaced and not just regulated in order to change the systematic abuse by corporations.

[Sherman A1]

50. Precisely

They have battalions of lawyers looking for loopholes in the bill.

[Chathamization]

76. The 75K square feet requirement was dropped at one point

and then reintroduced later. Which is a real shame, but still, this is a nice progressive victory for the city. Now we need to all lean on the mayor and push him to not veto it. Which I'm afraid he might.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. YESSSS.

Screw those Corporate Welfare Queens.

[marmar]

7. Excellent. F**k Apall-Mart.

nt

[BrotherIvan]

8. And a GIANT FU to Wal-Mart

I hope more cities do this, especially the ones that already have that pustule. Then let's see if they fold of their tent and go home. Doubt it. Bastards. Costco should move in post haste as they would have no problem meeting that minimum. They should give free membership to economically challenged communities and watch the living wage sprout customers like seeds.

And a hearty thank you, I really didn't think the pols, any pols had it in them to stand up to that cancerous company. I'm sure they'll face some kind of election backlash with scads of cash thrown at some competitor. But just imagine where we could be if pols voted with their constituents in mind!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. you should get yourself on some city councils!

I like how you think!

[undergroundpanther]

9. why can't a living wage bill

happen for an entire country,instead of just DC?
Is it only for DC because so many rich people live there,and wouldn't want wal mart to blight C like it has so many other towns??

[mac56]

11. Can't we just be happy for one stinkin' day

that the good guys won a battle?!

Sheesh.

[ArcticFox]

78. um, I think there's a lot of non-rich people in DC

The rich people live in Maryland, Virginia, etc.

[bunnies]

10. Good. Suck it wallyworld! nt

[Warpy]

12. If the store is profitable, they won't pull out

They haven't pulled out of Santa Fe, even though they screamed that the city minimum wage would ruin them.

[Iliyah]

13. California minimum wage is $8.00

each state have their own minimum limits but the Federal law protects the minimum across the country. DC is not a state but the laws pertain to it the same. Cost of living - not all all states do. So far as to the people of DC, DC have a large middle to lower Middle to poor population in such a small area.

I commend DC in not sucking up the the big corporations.

[alp227]

74. & some major cities in CA have higher MW's

San Francisco recently made it $10.55/hour, and my city that's near SF recently made it $10.00/h.

[frylock]

14. great job!

[avaistheone1]

15. They made a wise decision.

Walmart sucks the life out of communities.

[steve2470]

16. awesome news, yay ! nt

[louis-t]

17. How long will Wal-Mart keep threatening America?

Orange is correct. Retailers need the cities.

[tiny elvis]

18. jeopardize their plans

jeopardize the fuck outta those plans

[the Weird Liberal]

19. Ha, good one! Nice to know Wall Street/Big Business doesn't always win. nt

[DirkGently]

20. Excellent. n/t

[Thinkingabout]

21. Thought it was interesting here a few years ago Walmart was happy to tell their employees to go

and apply for Medicaid and food stamps because their wages was so low. Another form of corporate welfare.

[Kingofalldems]

24. Republicans love Wal Mart and their slave wages.

[Phlem]

23. Oh Fuck Yes!

Nice win for us!!

-p

[Ash_F]

25. Oh no. No Walmart in town?

That would be awful.

[aquart]

26. Bless them!

[cosmicone]

27. What if Walmart built stores

that are 74,999 square feet?

[BornLooser]

28. Alrighty then

That's one.

[DCBob]

29. Excellent!!

Finally someone willing to stand up to WallyWorld!

[spooky3]

30. The mayor may veto it--let's not celebrate too soon.

I'm in NoVA and the local media say there is a real possibility of a veto. Some of his constituents want to shop at Wally World.

[wtmusic]

32. "When DC customers can't get our cheap disposable crap anymore, THEN they'll be sorry!"

...or something like that.

[cantbeserious]

33. About Time - Actually, Way Past Due

eom

[Owl]

34. Fantastic news!!!

[Lenomsky]

35. Awesome ...

K&R

[SoapBox]

36. Excellant.

[Jack Rabbit]

37. Wal-Mart is an economic black hole

DC is better off if they just go away. So is every other community.

[jenmito]

38. GREAT news! K&R&T. n/t

[brentspeak]

39. Well said, Vincent Orange n/t

[glinda]

40. It is actually not about a living wage in the end...it is about competition...

when Walfart pays people less, makes them go on food stamps, has the Cities pay for their taxes, road construction, sewer, etc.....and leaves older buildings vacant...they also make sure there is absolutely NO competition nor nary a small business wither to be found anywhere near it. This is the bigger picture.

[airplaneman]

41. Yeah we won one!!! n/t.

[savalez]

42. Introducing the new 74,999 square foot Walmart! n/t

[Catherina]

43. This makes my day. A good first step n/t

[BlancheSplanchnik]

45. SHOUT out for Justice

Real Justice, the kind that's FAIR and HUMANE.


8-5 vote. Gee I sure wonder what the party lines were on that vote.

[Chathamization]

75. 1 independent for, 1 independent against, the rest are all Democrats

Though I should not that the independent that voted in favor of it is basically a Democrat (he left the party just so he could run for this position), the one that voted against it is basically a Republican (he officially left after the party kept telling him he'd go to hell...then they wondered why there weren't Republicans on the DC council).

The votes a little strange though because two of the five who were against that are considered to be on the more liberal end, while there were corporatists and party machine types that voted in favor of it. Just goes to show that you can never be sure who your allies are in politics.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

79. interesting. Thank you!

thanks for taking the time to answer my musings!

[MotherPetrie]

47. Good!

[another_liberal]

51. We'll listen to Walmart's concerns . . .

When the Walmart heirs start paying their taxes, instead of hiding their money in the Cayman Islands, maybe we'll listen to Walmart's concerns.

Three cheers for the D.C. City Council!

[WovenGems]

52. Everywhere

there is a Walmart needs to enact this rule. The company can't withdraw from all communities. They just may stop viewing their employees as less than human.

[lawwolf]

53. I don't understand the excitement over this vote.

If a living wage is important, why not require all employers to pay it. Why is it bad for Wal-Mart to pay $8.25 to it's employees but it is ok for CVS (or any other smaller, low to no skill employer) to pay $8.25. Also, as pointed out, all Wal-Mart has to do is build a store that is 74,000 square feet and they can continue to pay $8.25. This just seems to me to be yet another pointless political statement that will have very little real life impact.

[wordpix]

54. you've made a good point there

DC is very expensive to live in and CVS, etc. SHOULD pay the same $12.50 as Walmart, which SHOULD pay the same no matter what size bldg. they build.

But at least the city council stood up and drew a line, instead of getting rolled over completely.

[olsondr]

55. The road back from big box stores

I was hoping this would happen. Let's make sure the Mayor signs the bill.

As I was thinking about this yesterday it struck me that this type of thing could be a road back from the low wage/big box concept that has dominated retail for 20 years. There are two outcomes here:

1. The Walmarts of the world suck it up and pay their employees the $12.50/hr, allowing them to support their families better and not depend on the government (as much... 12.50 is still not a lot don't let them fool you)

2. The Walmarts of the world leave and a multitude of smaller local stores spring up to fill the gap. This could be especially important in a place like DC where decent jobs and entrepreneurship have been stymied in the inner city because of all the big box stores. Neighborhoods with store fronts instead of boarded up windows. The ability to work and shop near your home rather than spend more of your limited resources on transportation.

Both scenarios are better than we have now. Congratulations D.C.... Now let's hope other cities follow suit.

[hack89]

56. Why shouldn't every company have to pay a living wage?

MacDonalds, for example, is a billion dollar corporation - they can afford it.

[TBF]

58. All it takes is legislation - raise the minimum wage. nt

[hack89]

59. So why didn't the DC council do that?

instead of writing a law that focuses on one or two companies. That is what I don't understand.

[TBF]

60. Dunno - but I concede you make a good point.

I would say we need a federal law to mandate raising the minimum. Maybe folks feel that is a hard thing to do, but it is what I would advocate.

[TBF]

57. Fuck Walmart. I am so sick of subsidizing millionaires. nt

[JohnnyRingo]

62. WalMart seems to assume DC can't survive without them.

Their ultimatum hints that the retail space will go unfilled unless there's a WalMart at that location. That's pretty arrogant, and I doubt it's true.

WalMart's business model appears to be "If we can earn a billion dollars a year, we'll stay. If it's only 900 million, we'll abandon the store and let competitors move in."

If I was a shareholder, I'd suggest the person who made that decision be replaced.

[hack89]

63. DC assumes that the majority of workers don't need a living wage

considering that they tailored the law to exempt the vast majority of businesses.

[malthaussen]

65. Isn't that discriminatory?

I don't patronize WalMart, and I am no lover of their policies. But how is it justifiable in law that larger retailers must pay a better wage than smaller?

-- Mal

[AllyCat]

66. $12.50 is still a pittance compared to an actual living wage (esp in DC)

but so glad to see this approved. If Wally World is gone, other smaller, and more community-based businesses can flourish and provide more jobs overall than one stupid Wart Mall does.

[WillyT]

68. K & R !!!

[VA_Jill]

69. About time

...municipalities stand up to WalMart. Their "mini-jobs" are not really doing much for the community.

My dad knew Sam Walton since high school days. He said Sam was always a go-getter but not greedy, and would be appalled at the way his kids are now acting. May Dad, and Mr. Sam, both rest in peace.....although maybe Sam should come back and haunt his greedy kids......

[47of74]

73. Even when I worked there

There was a real sense that it just wasn't the same without Sam around. That the company wasn't what it once was.

[neffernin]

70. Who else is effected by this?

I assume home depot, lowe's and similar stores. What about grocery stores? Do those get past that threshold? If not, I honestly feel this bill doesn't go far enough.

[littlewolf]

72. this is my take ... I maybe wrong ... but this is how I see it.

Walmart will do 1 of 3 things....

1. they will build the smaller stores.

2. they will build just across the line from DC.

3. they will pay the wage ( highly unlikely)

just how I see it.

[Pterodactyl]

77. Having different minimums for different employers is dumb.

The government of DC should not be raising the wages of only some employers, in effect saying that it's OK for smaller employers to pay less than a living wage. If they want to raise the minimum, fine, but have it equal for all. To do otherwise only invites cronyism.