On July 26, 2006 the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

voted to approve an ordinance which for 7 weeks made Chicago the largest United States city that required

big-box retailers A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The t ...

to pay what the ordinance's sponsors characterized as a "

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...

." Formally entitled "AMENDMENT OF TITLE 4 OF MUNICIPAL CODE OF CHICAGO BY CREATION OF NEW CHAPTER 404 ENTITLED "LARGE RETAILERS"", the ordinance was popularly known as the "Living Wage Ordinance" or "Big Box Ordinance." The ordinance defined "Large Retailers" as those with annual gross revenues of $1 billion or more or with stores of 90,000 square feet or more. "Large retailers" were required to pay $9.25 per hour in wages and $1.50 per hour in benefits, with a schedule of

cost of living Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a c ...

increases. (At the time, the minimum wage was $6.50 per hour state and $5.15 federal). The ordinance was sponsored by Aldermen Moore, Flores, Tillman, Preckwinkle, Hairston, Lyle, Beavers, Stroger, Beale, Pope, Balcer, Cardenas, Olivo, Theodore Thomas, Coleman, Latasha Thomas, Murphy, Troutman, Munoz, Chandler, Ocasio, Ed Smith, Reboyras, Matlak, Austin, Colon, Allen, Laurino, Levar, Shiller, Schulter, Maryanne Smith and Stone. This legislation was widely reported in the national press. More than two dozen publications, including the ''

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...

'', ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'', ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

'', ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'', ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'', and ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'', carried the story.

Mayor Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

vetoed the ordinance on September 11, 2006, and two days later the City Council sustained the veto.

Notes

See also