CHICAGO - July 27 - Yesterday the Chicago city council approved by a vote of 35 to 14 a new ordinance requiring large retailers in the city pay their employees a living wage. If signed into law by Mayor Richard Daley, it would become the first of its type in the nation, and would raise pay for tens of thousands of workers at large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Lowe's and Home Depot.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law advised the Chicago City Council in designing the proposed law and served as the lead counsel to the grassroots campaign in support of the legislation. Today the Brennan Center vowed to defend the law against an inevitable legal challenge from Wal-Mart and Target.

"With this vote, Chicago is joining cities and states across the country in doing what Washington has failed to do: raise the wage floor for working families. Chicago is sending a clear message to big retailers that if they want to come into urban areas, they need to bring good jobs with benefits." said Annette Bernhardt, deputy director of the Poverty Program at the Brennan Center.

"We expect that Wal-Mart will do everything in its power to avoid paying a living wage. We plan to defend the law vigorously against whatever challenge they pose and are confident it will be upheld," said Paul Sonn, deputy director of the Poverty Program at the Brennan Center.

The grassroots campaign for the law was led by Chicago's Grassroots Collaborative and ACORN, and includes a broad coalition of labor, anti-poverty and faith community groups.

The living wage law would ask large retailers with sales of $1 billion or more operating stores larger than 90,000 square feet in Chicago to pay a living wage and contribute an additional amount for benefits or supplemental wages. The living wage would start at $9.25 in 2007, and phase up to $10.00 by 2010. The supplement would start at $1.50 in 2007, and phase up to $3.00 by 2010.

In assessing the likely impact of the law on the local economy, advocates took their cue from the experience of other cities. In Santa Fe, Wal-Mart, Target and Sam's Club quickly adapted to paying the city's living wage of $9.50, and Wal-Mart is now seeking to build a new supercenter. In San Francisco, the Home Depot recently agreed to adopt a starting wage of $10.75 an hour in return for opening its first store in the city. Leading retailer Costco already pays all of its employees nationwide a living wage of $10 per hour plus health benefits. For more information on economic impacts click here.

A legal analysis of the law published by an expert on Illinois municipal law, Professor Laurie Reynolds of the University of Illinois College of Law, found that the ordinance was legal and likely to be upheld if challenged in court. "The recent ruling that a Maryland health benefits law violated ERISA (the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act) has no bearing on the Chicago law," explains Paul Sonn, deputy director of the Poverty Program at the Brennan Center. "Every federal court of appeals that has reviewed a combined wage and benefits law like the Chicago ordinance has upheld the law under ERISA."

For more information, see the Brennan Center's Living Wage web page. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that provides technical and legal assistance to community coalitions and lawmakers promoting policy initiatives to help working families.

Paul Sonn and Annette Bernhardt are available to discuss the living wage law and its likely impacts today by phone or in- person in New York City.

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