Proposal seeks higher wage at ‘big box’ stores

The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane is sponsoring a citywide initiative to require higher wages for employees at Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores.

The Spokane City Council on Monday scheduled a public hearing next Monday on the plan, which was filed earlier this month with the City Clerk. The council will likely ask the sponsors to gather signatures to get the measure on the ballot.

Under the proposal, employers operating stores of 95,000 square feet or larger would be required to pay employees $10.30 an hour if they offer health benefits. The salary would have to be $12.58 an hour if the employer does not provide health benefits.

Nancy Nelson, of PJALS, said there are about 200 cities around the country with various types of “living wage ordinances.” Many of them require employers who contract with the city to provide wages that are considered sufficient to pay basic living costs.

PJALS proposed a living wage ordinance in the late 1990s, but it was never enacted.

Workers earning lower salaries often are forced to seek state subsidized health care and even food stamps at a cost to taxpayers, Nelson said. Requiring employers to pay higher wages will remove that burden from government and nonprofit agencies.

Nelson said that the additional salary paid under a living wage ordinance would likely stay in the region. “Low-income workers spend their money locally,” she said.

The initiative needs about 2,900 valid voter signatures to qualify for the 2007 city ballot. Nelson said her group is expecting to gather 4,000 signatures to make up for invalid signatures.

In the past, the council has declined to exercise its two other options for getting measures to voters – placing the initiative directly on the ballot without signatures or enacting the measure without a public vote.

In other business Monday, the council approved a resolution to change the way the city allocates more than $700,000 annually to nonprofit agencies that deliver social services. The resolution calls for the council to establish priorities for those allocations.