What can DC do to make sure a possible Walmart entry into the District benefits DC?
Many of you probably know that Walmart, the world’s largest retail chain, has proposed opening in four locations in the District. Some welcome the stores for the jobs and competitive prices they will bring, but others worry the jobs will have poverty-wages, that this will lead to downward pressure on wages at other retailers, and that the company’s giant market influence may put smaller, local retailers out of business.
However you may feel about Walmart, there are things the District can do to make sure if Walmart opens stores here the District and its residents will benefit. First, DC can insist that Walmart pay a living wage to its employees. A DCFPI report last fall showed that low-wage jobs do little to lift families out of poverty. In fact, 57 percent of DC’s low-income residents live in working families. (We define low-income to include residents below 150 percent of the federal poverty line or less than $25,000 for a family of three). Raising wages for heads of households to $12.00 or $15.00/hour would be enough to lift most of these low-income families out of poverty.
A bill was recently introduced in the DC Council to help accomplish this: The “Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2011,” introduced by At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson, would mandate that all stores larger than 75,000 square feet pay their employees a “living wage”, which the District currently has set at $12.50/hour. The term “living wage” correctly implies that the District’s actual minimum wage of $8.25/hour is inadequate to support a family in the DC region.
Another way DC can benefit is for Walmart to negotiate a community benefits agreement with the city and Walmart’s neighbors in the areas where the company wants to locate. Councilmember Mendelson also introduced a bill to encourage Walmart to do this. A community benefits agreement can include wage and job targets for DC residents, as well as other contributions Walmart can make to District and its neighbors.
Councilmember Mendelson’s bills will go a long way towards helping ensure that Walmart’s presence in the District does not have an undue effect on the city’s labor market. Rather than allowing Walmart to drag wages down, the legislation may ultimately force even more retailers to pay their employees a living wage.
