2006 Chicago Big Box Ordinance

On July 26, 2006 the Chicago City Council voted to approve an ordinance which for 7 weeks made Chicago the largest United States city that required big-box retailers to pay what the ordinance's sponsors characterized as a "living wage." Formally entitled "AMENDMENT OF TITLE 4 OF MUNICIPAL CODE OF CHICAGO BY CREATION OF NEW CHAPTER 404 ENTITLED "LARGE RETAILERS"",[1] the ordinance was popularly known as the "Living Wage Ordinance" or "Big Box Ordinance." The ordinance defined "Large Retailers" as those with annual gross revenues of $1 billion or more or with stores of 90,000 square feet or more. "Large retailers" were required to pay $9.25 per hour in wages and $1.50 per hour in benefits, with a schedule of cost of living increases.[1] (At the time, the minimum wage was $6.50 per hour state and $5.15 federal).[2]

The ordinance was sponsored by Aldermen Moore, Flores, Tillman, Preckwinkle, Hairston, Lyle, Beavers, Stroger, Beale, Pope, Balcer, Cardenas, Olivo, Theodore Thomas, Coleman, Latasha Thomas, Murphy, Troutman, Munoz, Chandler, Ocasio, Ed Smith, Reboyras, Matlak, Austin, Colon, Allen, Laurino, Levar, Shiller, Schulter, Maryanne Smith and Stone.[3][4]

This legislation was widely reported in the national press. More than two dozen publications, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, The Kansas City Star, Rocky Mountain News, The Seattle Times, and Philadelphia Daily News, carried the story.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Mayor Richard M. Daley vetoed the ordinance on September 11, 2006, and two days later the City Council sustained the veto.[11]

Notes
  1. "Unfinished Business" (PDF). Chicago City Council Journal of Proceedings: 83061–83070. 2006-07-26.
  2. Bellandi, Deanna (2006-07-27). "Chicago Council Passes 'Living Wage' Act". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  3. Eckholm, Erik (2006-07-27). "Chicago Orders 'Big Box' Stores to Raise Wage". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  4. "AMENDMENT OF TITLE 4 OF MUNICIPAL CODE OF CHICAGO BY CREATION OF NEW CHAPTER 404 ENTITLED "LARGE RETAILERS" AND TITLE 8, CHAPTER 4, SECTION 050 CONCERNING ACCESS TO PUBLIC AREAS OF LARGE RETAILERS" (PDF). 2006-03-29. p. 74619. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2012-11-05.
  5. Bellandi, Deanna (2006-08-27). "Big-box retailers targeted". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Newsbank. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  6. Bellandi, Deanna (2006-08-27). "Chicago passes wage law - Big-box retailers would have to pay $10 an hour". Houston Chronicle. Newsbank. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  7. Bellandi, Deanna (2006-08-27). "Chicago adopts living wage law - Largest retailers will be required to pay workers at least $10 an hour, plus $3 in benefits". The Kansas City Star. Newsbank. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  8. "Briefs". Rocky Mountain News. Newsbank. 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  9. "Across The Nation". The Seattle Times. Newsbank. 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  10. "Chicago challenges Wal-Mart on pay". Philadelphia Daily News. Newsbank. 2006-08-27. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  11. Heher, Ashley M. (2006-09-14). "Chicago 'Living Wage' Turned Back". Associated Press.

See also
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