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| Members of the Progressive Caucus, including Aldermen Bob Fioretti (2nd), Roderick Sawyer (6th) and Scott Waguespack (32nd), proposed raising Chicago's minimum wage to $15 an hour. | Al Podgorski~Sun-Times |
The
Little Emporer is caught between a rock and a hard place on the minimum wage. Unions and community groups want the MW raised to $15. Rahm's corporate patrons want something far less are even threatening a pull-out if that passes. So with a wink to hedge-fund pals, like
Ken Griffin (Citadel), who
just dropped big money into his campaign war chest, and buddy
Bruce Rauner,
who wants to cut the MW down to $7.25, the mayor got his so-called
Working Group,led by flunkie Ald.
Will Burns, to come up with
$13/hour (in four years) plan as a way to outflank likely opponents like
Karen Lewis and
Bob Fioretti and still keep his creds with loyal union leaders
. The Working Group which includes the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Chicago Retail Merchants Association and the Illinois Restaurant Association, wants to put off a vote to raise the current $8.25 an hour minimum wage until after the Nov. 4 election.
The Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago, the union of fast food and retail workers, responded in a press release yesterday:
Any recommendation that is less than $15 is an insult to the hundreds of fast food Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rahm tries to outflank unions and political opponents on minimum wage:
