Monday, June 13, 2016

Walmart threatens to scrap plans for 3 DC stores if living wage bill passes

http://twitter.com/#!/mtgrove/status/354694001124835328

Potentially big business news this afternoon out of D.C.:

http://twitter.com/#!/MacFarlaneNews/status/354695164024987650

The D.C. Council is set to vote tomorrow on proposed “living wage” legislation that would affect large retailers like Walmart.

More from the Washington Post:

Alex Barron, a regional general manager for Wal-Mart U.S., wrote in a Washington Post op-ed piece that the proposed wage requirement “would clearly inject unforeseen costs into the equation that will create an uneven playing field and challenge the fiscal health of our planned D.C. stores.”

As a result, Barron said, the company “will not pursue” stores at three locations where construction has yet to begin — two in Ward 7 and one in Ward 5. He added that the legislation, if passed, will also “jeopardize” three stores whose construction is already underway pending “financial and legal implications.”

The bill as currently written would require retailers with corporate sales of a billion dollars or more and operating in spaces 75,000 square feet or larger to pay their employees no less than $12.50 an hour. The District’s current minimum wage is $8.25.

Many on the Left are insisting that D.C.’s minimum wage should be raised, and they’re both rejoicing at this news and slamming Walmart:

http://twitter.com/#!/cstergalas/status/354705614695432192 http://twitter.com/#!/honorablelordk/status/354709686118907904 http://twitter.com/#!/TheLP_Frankie/status/354706340238733314 http://twitter.com/#!/maeve_mcdermott/status/354704831421743104 http://twitter.com/#!/13monsters/status/354715666416275457

But what these eloquent individuals don’t seem to realize is that when Walmart leaves, so do a lot of potential jobs for those who need them most:

http://twitter.com/#!/WashBizNeibs/status/354698527684833281

Relatively low-priced goods will also be more difficult to come by:

http://twitter.com/#!/Adam_Ulbricht/status/354704848148627456

Proponents of the living wage bill aren’t seeing the whole picture. As warm and fuzzy as it might make them feel to demand that workers’ pay be increased, what they’re forgetting — or ignoring — is that raising wages costs money. At some point for businesses, the costs outweigh the benefits. And higher costs for employers ultimately get passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and employees in the form of job loss. Is that what the Left wants to push for?

http://twitter.com/#!/seanhackbarth/status/354690302289788928

If the bill becomes law, Walmart might wind up being one of many potential job providers discouraged from doing business in D.C. And then what?

http://twitter.com/#!/mosesmosesmoses/status/354687166670061568

‘Round and ’round we go.

***

Related:

President Obama pushes #LivingWage; Conservatives push back with truth

Hiring freeze redux: Obama pushes minimum wage hike; small biz owners say ‘will put me out of business’

That’s the ticket! Study suggests minimum wage should be $21.72

Big wampum: Sen. Elizabeth Warren asks why the minimum wage isn’t $22 per hour

Department of Labor finds its own human props to push minimum wage hike

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2013/07/09/walmart-threatens-to-scrap-plans-for-3-dc-stores-if-living-wage-bill-passes/

The blog post Walmart threatens to scrap plans for 3 DC stores if living wage bill passes is republished from Eat Healthy

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