Town Hall Urges DC Mayor Gray to Sign Large Retailer Accountability Act, Honoring MLK's Legacy

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, community and labor activists, along with D.C. councilmembers, gathered last night at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church to call on D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray to honor Martin Luther King's dream of "Jobs, Justice and Freedom" by signing the Large Retailer Accountability Act. "I've said it once and I'll say it again, this is an issue of economic justice," said The Reverend Dr. Kendrick Curry, Senior Pastor at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, which is hosting the event. "$12.50 is not too much to ask large retailers to pay, including benefits, especially for a company as profitable as Walmart, whose CEO earns $11,000 an hour." Last month the D.C. Council voted in favor of the Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2013 (LRAA), which requires large retailers operating stores of 75,000 square feet or more, and whose parent company generates more than $1 billion in revenues annually, to provide its workers a "living wage" of $12.50 per hour, including benefits. "If we're talking about Walmart, I don't deny that it would be bringing jobs," said Kimberly Mitchell, life-long Ward 7 resident and Macy's employee. "But when you are taking home a pay check that barely covers rent or food to feed your family, is that really something that is acceptable for D.C. workers? Absolutely not! I and many of my neighbors along with the majority of the D.C. Council believe that we must demand better for our city." "Mayor Vincent Gray has said on several occasions that he wanted to hear from the people, the community," said Reverend Graylan Hagler, President of Faith Strategies and Senior Pastor at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. "We're here today to speak up together that as residents of D.C. we want better, we deserve better, we deserve a living wage.  Through the tens of thousands of phone calls, emails and petition signers, we want to make sure the Mayor hears us, his constituents, one last time before the bill is transmitted to his desk. Can you hear us now, Mr. Mayor?!" Click here for a video from the Town Hall. Click here for the AFL-CIO Now blog report, Packed Church Tells Gray: Sign the D.C. Living Wage Bill