No Biggie: Big Box Living Wage is Back with some Friends

Maybe you remember similar proposed legislation from 2007. The "Big Box Living Wage" would require all stores over 75,000 sq feet to pay at least $11.75. More or less. City Paper covers it here. The second bill would vaguely require all big boxes to sign Community Benefits Agreements in order to operate in DC.

City Council reps are lining up to support the bills. Mendelson introduced both bills, with Bowser and Alexander cosponsoring the Community Benefits piece, and Graham cosponsoring the Big Box Living Wages.

W4T still demands there be no WalMart in Ward Four, but does have a few questions about what's up in the Wilson Building.

• Given the wide discrepancies of effective and ineffective CBAs out there, how does this bill define a CBA and

• Is it legally binding and enforceable?

• With whom can WalMart sign a CBA, anyway? Anyone?

• Are there minimum standards that a CBA would have to cover?

What's RespectDC think of all this?

Any action by the city council to hold WalMart accountable is a plus.

But the coalition's posiiton is that the CBA bill needs be strengthened. Still to be defined: What groups can sign a CBA? Is this legally enforceable? What about traffic, the environment, small business, hours of operation, and security? How does DC solve those problems?