Reply #17: (Squal-Mart) Retail group seeks injunction vs unfriendly law (Fair Wages)

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-02-08T021136Z_01_N07304499_RTRIDST_0_RETAIL-LAWSUIT-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A retail trade group sued Maryland state and a New York county on Tuesday, saying laws that force companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to spend more on employee health care single out specific companies and threaten the entire retail industry.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) filed suits in U.S. District Courts in Baltimore, Maryland and Brooklyn, New York, seeking injunctions against laws passed in Maryland and New York's Suffolk County in the last few months which it regarded as unconstitutional.

New York City has passed a similar law and other states and cities, including San Francisco, are exploring related legislation.

One RILA lawsuit, against James Fielder, Maryland's secretary of labor, licensing and regulation, challenges the state law requiring companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits, or pay the balance into a state low-income health insurance fund.

The other, filed against Suffolk County, New York, the Suffolk County Department of Labor and its commissioner, Robert Dow, challenges a county law requiring large, non-unionized food retailers to make annual health care payments of no less than $3 per hour worked by all employees.

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