A group of Chicago aldermen introduced an ordinance at Wednesday’s city council meeting that would require some Windy City businesses to pay a $15 minimum wage to employees within a year.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has already created a panel to provide suggestions for raising the minimum wage and given them 45 days to give a recommendation.
A faction led by Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno, Roderick Sawyer and John Arena don’t want to wait that long.
Under their proposal, “companies with more than $50 million in annual revenue would be required to pay $12.50 an hour within 90 days of passage and $15 an hour within a year,” according the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Smaller companies would have less stringent requirements but would eventually have to start paying $15 within four years.
Moreno mocked the notion that raising the minimum wage would hurt city businesses.
“It’s not gonna hurt business. It never has. Raising the minimum wage in the United States has never, ever hurt the broader economy,” Moreno said. “Our economy has been splintered with those at the top having way more. The middle class is shrinking. We want the middle class to grow.”
Minimum wage is currently $8.25 in Illinois.
SOURCE: Evan Bleier
UPI
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