WASHINGTON (AP) - Wal-Mart says it won't build three stores it had planned for the District of Columbia if lawmakers approve a bill that would force the retailer to pay its employees at least $12.50 an hour.
Wal-Mart had been planning to build six stores in the nation's capital. But a Wal-Mart representative wrote in an op-ed published online by The Washington Post Tuesday that the retailer will abandon plans for three of those stores if the bill gains final approval from the D.C. Council Wednesday. Wal-Mart says the bill will also jeopardize three stores already under construction.
Mayor Vincent Gray says in a statement that "the cancellation of three planned stores will surely set us back." He's asking the council to consider whether the bill would promote economic development.