Living in the City That Works
- Published: November 01, 2006, By Yolanda Simonsis, Associate Publisher/Editor
Editorial Column
As I write this, Pack Expo/CPP is just around the corner in Chicago. I’m looking forward to the keynote speech entitled “The Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club Packaging Vision.” I may ask the presenters (Matt Kistler, VP, package and product innovations, Sam’s Club, and Amy Zettlemoyer, director of packaging, Sam’s Club) for their views on some recent events that took place here in the “city that works.”
In my September editorial, I shared what was happening on the local Chicago news front regarding the “Big Box Ordinance,” considered the first effort in the nation, according to the September 14 edition of the New York Times, “to impose minimum wage regulations on ‘big box’ stores like Wal-Mart.” It involved a minimum wage hike of $9.25/hr and $1.50 in fringe benefits—but only for stores occupying at least 90,000 sq ft of space with annual sales of $1 billion or more. By 2010, wages and benefits would have risen to $10 and $3, respectively, along with cost-of-living increases.
As anticipated, the ordinance was vetoed by Mayor Richard Daley on September 13, and the City Council failed by three votes to overturn the mayor’s veto—his first in 17 years. I noted in my editorial that, like most things in our great city, what could have “inspired” the alderman (who comprise the City Council) to vote in favor of the ordinance was the fact they had just voted a nice pay raise for themselves. To have not voted for the Big Box minimum wage increase probably wouldn’t have looked so good to their constituents.
Now that some time has passed, it appears some good business sense has taken hold, led by the mayor…oh, by the way, Wal-Mart also offered an attractive prize to the mayor and his City Council allies. According to a Crain’s Chicago Business October 16 article by Greg Hinz, “…five supercenter stores…would go into wards whose aldermen helped the mayor block a proposed minimum wage for big-box retailers like Wal-Mart.”
Despite the “reward” aspect that may have influenced the outcome, questions about the ordinance remain: Is it fair to cherry pick which businesses pay higher wages and which ones pay lower wages? What are the results of mandating a minimum wage for low-skilled labor?
One of PFFC’s readers responded this way:
Here’s my response: Remember, Chicago is the city that works. Oh, and vote early and vote often!
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