Campaign Update: Wal-Mart

Hello, Maddie here with an update on the battle over Wal-Mart on Chicago's South Side. Community leaders and city officials have been negotiating with Wal-Mart over opening a new store in the Pullman neighborhood (home to our fellow intern, Anthony). This area is referred to as a 'food desert', meaning there is limited access to grocery stores for people who live in the community. Residents often drive 20+ minutes away to get groceries, sometimes even to the Wal-Mart on Chicago's West Side, the city's first. Because of this and the high level of unemployment in this community, there has been a large push for the Pullman Wal-Mart to open. The city, too, looking to reap the benefits of additional tax revenue in the midst of this recession (and a state budget in shambles), has supported this initiative.

On the other hand, labor and community leaders have concerns over this Wal-Mart. For one thing, Wal-Mart has a history of wage and hour violations, including the largest class-action civil rights lawsuit in US history (Dukes v. Wal-Mart, a gender discrimination case). Because the cost of living is so high in Chicago (what with taxes and lack of affordable housing), there is also a concern about workers being paid a 'living wage', which according to federal estimates should be $11.03/hr (as the wage for a full-time worker, this would put a family of four at the poverty line). Wal-Mart has, in the past, been known to hire many part-time workers and has even been accused of (and sued for) altering employee time cards to keep them under 40 hours per week. The concern that comes out of this is whether the people of Pullman will be given the full-time jobs they are expecting to sustain their families and keep them in their homes.

This past Thursday (6/24/10), the city council met to vote on zoning the area in Pullman where the Wal-Mart is to be built. A compromise was drawn that workers will be paid $8.75/hr, with a guaranteed raise of $0.40-0.60 within a year of hiring. Workers will be hired from the local community and there will be an estimated 700 new jobs as a result of the Wal-Mart opening. Construction of the building will also be contracted out to union workers.

See Charles Thomas' report (ABC7 Chicago) on the council meeting: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=7519129&pid=7518177

See also this article on Wal-Mart's tactics in conveying "community support" for its stores: http://chicagoist.com/2010/01/26/wal-mart_using_fake_community_group.php