Community Benefit, Living Wage Bills Introduced In DC Council

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) yesterday introduced bills to "give leverage" to the four communities in which Wal-Mart plans to open and the hundreds of employees it plans to hire, reports Michael Neibauer in the Washington Business Journal. The first requires large retailers to sign a community benefits agreement with the local community, while the second would require any large retailer to pay a living wage and benefits to its employees. "These provisions are important first to the workers, because workers who are paid a substandard wage are not given fair compensation for their work, nor often is the case, are they getting benefits," Mendelson said. "In turn this is a burden on the government, because the government ends up having to provide benefits, such as health care." The bills have been referred to the council's Workforce Development Committee and Economic Development Committee.