The Equity Factor

D.C. Mayor Shoots Down Big Box Wage Hike

The Large Retailer Accountability Act is dead, but perhaps it was one bump on the road to higher wages.

This is your first of three free stories this month. Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles, webinars and ebooks.

Become A Member

Back to the drawing board for low-wage workers in Washington, D.C., where Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage for large retailers.

The Large Retailer Accountability Act required non-union big box stores like Walmart — which threatened to not build three of six planned D.C. stores if the bill passed — to pay employees $12.50 an hour. That’s $4.25 more than the general city-required minimum wage. The increase would only have applied to stores 75,000 square feet or larger.

But Gray shot the bill down yesterday, calling it a job-killer, “[N]early every large retailer now considering opening a store in the District has indicated they would not come here or expand here if this bill becomes law,” the mayor said in a statement.

It’s a blow to the working poor in the District, where lawmakers were taking a page out of San Francisco and San Jose’s playbooks. Both Bay Area cities have recently undergone wage hikes, albeit across the board and not focused specifically on big box retailers.

Gray said that he’ll work with city council on a bill to raise the minimum wage for all workers, not just those employed at big retail corporations. It remains to be seen if that’s just pageantry after his veto. But if the Large Retailer Accountability Act was just a legislative casualty on the road to higher wages in D.C., that’s a fight worth having.

The Equity Factor is made possible with the support of the Surdna Foundation.

Like what you’re reading? Get a browser notification whenever we post a new story. You’re signed-up for browser notifications of new stories. No longer want to be notified? Unsubscribe.

Bill Bradley is a writer and reporter living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Deadspin, GQ, and Vanity Fair, among others.

Follow Bill

Tags: washington dcequity factorminimum wageretailvincent gray

×
Next City App Never Miss A StoryDownload our app ×
×

You've reached your monthly limit of three free stories.

This is not a paywall. Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading.

  • Read unlimited stories each month
  • Our email newsletter
  • Webinars and ebooks in one click
  • Our Solutions of the Year magazine
  • Support solutions journalism and preserve access to all readers who work to liberate cities

Join 1099 other sustainers such as:

  • Gabby at $5/Month
  • Abigail at $10/Month
  • Gloria at $5/Month

Already a member? Log in here. U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options.

or pay by credit card:

All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter. You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time.

  • Donate $20 or $5/Month

    20th Anniversary Solutions of the Year magazine

has donated ! Thank you 🎉
Donate
×