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Emanuel Asks Aldermen To Raise Minimum Wage To $13 An Hour Over Time

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called a special city council meeting to consider raising the minimum wage in the city to $13 an hour over a span of five years.

The special council meeting will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to a notice posted on the city clerk's website. Under the mayor's proposal, the city's minimum wage would be increased to $10 an hour July 1, with subsequent raises to $13 an hour over five years, CBS 2 has learned.

The mayor is trying to pre-empt state lawmakers, who may deal with the wage hike on a wider scale.

Legislators are expected to take up a measure to raise Illinois' $8.25-per-hour minimum wage when they return to Springfield next week. The proposal currently being considered would increase the wage to $10 by July 1 and $11 per hour by 2017.

Opponents have said that hiking the minimum wage would force companies to lay off workers and add to unemployment.

A city panel will examine the mayor's wage-hike plan on Monday before it goes to the full City Council.

(Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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