Dive Brief:
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Contractors and subcontractors who work on projects for the Chicago Housing Authority will have to pay their employees at least $13 an hour, the mayor’s office announced Monday.
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Although Chicago’s minimum wage is $8.25 an hour, the city’s contractors have been required to pay $11.93 an hour under a “living wage” ordinance established in 1998.
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order in September urging city agencies to adopt the $13-an-hour pay scale for contractors. The Housing Authority is the second agency to do so, after the Chicago Transit Authority. Other agencies considering a similar pay raise for employees of city contractors are the Public Building Commission, the public school system, the city’s community colleges and the Chicago Park District.
Dive Insight:
Hourly wages are a campaign issue this fall in Chicago, whose voters have accused their wealthy mayor of being out of touch with the working class. Statewide, voters will decide on a nonbinding referendum on Nov. 4 whether to support a minimum wage increase to $10 an hour for all employees.