29th
In Defence of a Living Wage
“The opposition to the living wage was based on a couple of things… [some said] if we passed a living wage ordinance in Chicago that we’re gonna drive businesses away, that Wal-Mart would not build a store in Chicago. [Some said] that when there is a job and you’re out of work, you don’t have the luxury to pick, you don’t have the luxury to choose. And so we had to convince people that, no, it wasn’t just about a job, you know – the job has to be dignified, has to have meaning. Furthermore, corporations don’t have a right to exploit people in a neighborhood just because those people are desperate, just because they’re vulnerable, just because they’re jobless. The task for us was to go out and talk to our allies and to convince them, to give them a good reason why this was not an obstructionist proposal, but that in fact this is in the long-term interest of the city and of its communities.”
- James Thindwa, a community organizer in Chicago who has been involved in a lengthy campaign to force big-box stores like Wal-Mart to pay employees a living wage if they want to open locations in the city
