CHICAGO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Richard Daley vetoed an ordinance Monday requiring 'big-box' retailers to pay employees at least $13 an hour in wages and benefits by 2010.
The City Council passed the bill in a bid for force Wal-Mart, Target and other large retailers to pay employees a "living wage." Working 50 weeks per year at $10 per hour, plus $3 an hour in benefits, would gross an employee $26,000. The council's bill would not apply to small and medium-sized retailers.
"I understand the desire to ensure that everyone who works in the city of Chicago earns a decent wage," Daley said in his first-ever veto message. "But I do not believe that this ordinance, well-intentioned as it may be, would achieve that end. Rather, I believe it would drive jobs and businesses from our city, penalizing neighborhoods that need additional economic activity the most."
Supporters of the bill are expected to attempt to override the veto.
