This is not quite as bad as the Washington, D.C. council voting to enact a “living wage” requirement for certain companies who want to expand into D.C., which was targeted at Wal-Mart specifically, a clear violation of the law requiring equal treatment under the law, which also meant that Wal-Mart will not build multiple stores which would have provided lots and lots of jobs for D.C. residents. Now we go to Seattle (via Grist)
(Seattle Times) Mayor Mike McGinn is going where no mayor has gone before, saying he won’t support a Whole Foods development in West Seattle unless the company raises the wages of its workers. (snip)
But the reason McGinn gave for coming out against the mixed-use development was unprecedented. It was that the anchor tenant for the complex, Whole Foods, doesn’t pay its workers enough.
“I’m setting a new standard here, that we are going to look at the wages they pay, and benefits, when a company wants to develop with land that involves public property,†McGinn told me in an interview. (snip)
McGinn contended in a letter that the nonunion Whole Foods pays “significantly lower†wages and benefits than other grocery stores, including some already in West Seattle. So the idea of allowing Whole Foods to go in there violates the city’s social and economic justice goals.
Ah, there we go, it’s non-union, and McGinn has a burr up his bumm, wanting to flex his supposed power ahead of the elections. But, why would the mayor have anything to say as to whether a company opens a store in their city, especially in terms of “social and economic justice” goals? Is this not America? Is there no longer freedom? Are elected government officials now dictators who attempt to force their will? Whole Foods states that they pay their non-management employees an average of $16 an hour. Whole Foods is one of Fortune’s Top 100 places to work. Oh, and they already have 6 stores in the Seattle area.
Do they have to run their payrolls past the mayor?
Why … yes. At least Whole Foods ought to, McGinn said.
“If Whole Foods wants to open up their books and prove to us that they provide equal pay and benefits to the other grocery stores, then that’s something we would definitely consider,†McGinn said.
Otherwise, he won’t give his backing unless…why does Whole Foods need his backing? They should say “screw you” and go ahead and build the store. McGinn has no right to look at their books. I think we can all infer that this fight is because Whole Foods is not unionized, and remember that CEO John Mackay has condemned ObamaCare multiple times, including calling it fascistic, going all the way back to 2009. He’s also no fan of Big Government, ie, the type of Progressive government in Seattle. And, he seems to be doing something right considering the growth of Whole Foods and its ranking as a great place to work.
