An attempt by the Washington DC City Council to force profitable chain stores to pay much higher wages than the city’s minimum has infuriated Walmart, which is threatening to pull out of up to six planned stores.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/us/washington-push-on-wages-has-walmart-balking.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130721   On July 10, the City Council passed a “living wage” measure that would require Walmart to pay at least $12.50 an hour, saying it was fighting to protect struggling residents in what has become a high-cost city.
Supporters of the measure say that Walmart, whose revenues in 2012 were $469 billion, can well afford to pay workers more. “Their net income was $17 billion,” said Vincent Orange, a city councilman who voted for the ordinance. “You don’t want to share a little bit with the citizens? Come on.”
The day before the City Council passed the measure, a Walmart official warned in an op-ed article in The Washington Post that if required to pay $12.50 an hour, the company would cancel three planned stores and consider withdrawing from three projects already under construction.
The measure, called the Large Retailer Accountability Act, would require stores of at least 75,000 square feet that are owned by companies with $1 billion or more in annual revenue to pay the higher minimum wage. Because existing stores and those with unions are exempt, it is seen as squarely aimed at Walmart.
As Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has sought inroads in major cities, it has faced resistance from local merchants, who fear being undercut, and from officials who say minimum-wage jobs mire workers in poverty.
Democrats on the House of Representatives work force committee produced a report this spring contending that the government subsidizes Walmart because employees earn so little that they qualify for Medicaid, food stamps and housing assistance.
“Yes, Walmart jobs are not great,” said Pedro Ribeiro, a spokesman for Mayor Gray of DC.
Willie Ford, 39, a carpenter, scoffed at the notion that Walmart could not afford to pay $12.50. “Come on, they’re going to make beaucoup money from this area,”