The Washington, DC, city council will
consider overriding Mayor Vincent Gray's veto of the Large Retailer Accountability Act at a Tuesday morning meeting. In July, the council passed the bill giving big box store workers a living wage of $12.50 an hour by an
eight to five vote, just one short of what's needed to override the mayor's
veto.
Walmart has threatened to pull out of plans to build new stores in Washington if the bill goes into effect, despite its earlier (but not binding) pledge to pay workers in the new stores a living wage. The contrast between the chain's claims that it would be paying in the neighborhood of $12.50 and its horror at the thought of being required to pay that much has refocused attention on how Walmart lies about its wages. But apparently neither Gray nor several city council members are able to see through that, or they just don't care.
Will Walmart's threats to pull its low-wage, job-killing stores out of the District carry the day, or will one council member who voted no on the bill's original passage change to a yes vote?
Please join with Daily Kos and Working America by signing the petition urging D.C. City Council members Tommy Wells, Muriel Bowser, Mary Cheh, David Catana and Yvette Alexander to override Mayor Gray’s veto and pass the Large Retailer Accountability Act.