The Public Interest Law Report at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law recently hosted a panel on labor unions and the living wage. (Click here to listen to the panel on your computer.) The panel featured union representatives from Chicago, who spend significant time discussing Chicago's 2006 Big Box ordinance.

The panelists include: Dennis Gannon, the president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; Dr. Gabriela D. Lemus, Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Alexia Kulwiec, Chief Counsel of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1; and Henry Tamarin, President of UNITE HERE, Local 1.

Though ultimately vetoed by Mayor Daley, the Big Box ordinance was in many ways a groundbreaking piece of legislation for Chicago. If it had passed, the ordinance would have required all big box stores, like Target and Walmart, to pay workers a living wage. CCH was part of a coalition of labor and civic organizations that supported the ordinance and helped pass it through Chicago city council.

You can listen to the panel by clicking here.