Representatives of district labor organizations, legal firms and major retailers met Monday in the first major public hearing on “living wages” in the District.
The City Council will consider Bill 16-496, also called the Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2005, which was introduced in an effort to establish new standards for “large businesses” opening in the city.
The policy would bring the city’s living wage to $11.75 an hour, require large businesses to provide health care policies, and allow the public to engage in free speech on their property.
A large business, as defined in the bill, is a 75,000-square-foot store whose annual parent company receipts total more than $1 billion.
Much of the bill’s opposition came not from increasing the living wage but from a portion that would provide for the public’s right to assemble on business premises, such as parking lots and sidewalks.
Barbara Lang, president and CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, testified this would be an “inappropriate intrusion” and is “contrary to standard business practices for retailers.”
Mackenzie Baris, lead organizer of D.C. Jobs with Justice, disagreed, saying the act would preserve public space for community members.
The bill was introduced by Council Member Phil Mendelson and co-sponsored by Council Members Adrian Fenty and Kathleen Patterson.
