South Side Chicago Wal-Mart Opens Despite City Council Opposition

Last Friday, a new Wal-Mart opened its doors just outside South Side city limits. Response from the community was astounding— reports of over 25,000 plus applications poured in for the mega-chain's newest addition. The company says that this could be the highest number of applications ever received for just one store in its history.

"We knew the number of applicants would be high, but this incredible outcome tells another story," Chad Donath, area Wal-Mart district manager, told Reuters. "We know this community welcomes not just the Wal-Mart shopping experience, but the good jobs, benefits and great career opportunities at Wal-Mart they have heard about."

Benefits? Great career opportunities? These are concepts not often associated with the much-maligned corporate behemoth. In fact, this bit of labor-positive P.R. is likely due in part to the long struggle the company has faced in branching into Chicago.

Although not within city-limits, the new store sits just across Western Avenue in Evergreen Park. For years Wal-Mart had been trying to enter Chicago's urban market but has routinely come up against resistance from city officials (and the influential labor-unions) who pointed to the company's unfair labor practices and history of driving out established businesses.

After hours-long city council hearings in May 2004, city officials finally agreed to a West Side Wal-Mart, but plans for a South Side store lost out.

However, many residents in the predominately black neighborhoods were still very much in favor of a Wal-Mart addition to the South Side. After all, not only would the new store bring employment opportunities, but in addition they would no longer have to drive several miles to take advantage of the bargain shopping of which the retail giant is renowned.

"Some may say 'these jobs are better than no jobs,' and are attracted to Wal-Mart's promise of 'jobs and low prices,' especially in these times of high unemployment and the need for community economic development. But a closer look at Wal-Mart exposes it as a Confederate economic Trojan horse.," explained Rev. Jesse Jackson, warning the community from what he painted as dubious temptation in 2004, "It's Kool-Aid and cyanide. The Kool-Aid is the cheap prices. The cyanide is the cheap wages. The cyanide is the cheap health benefits." Jackson, along with pastors at nine black churches, called for boycotting Wal-Mart. The strong public outcry temporarily kept the chain away.

On the danieldrezner.com blog, an article analyzing the above conflict entitled "Wal-Mart Vs. Jesse Jackson, elicited one resident to comment, "This brings back the old Wal-Mart debate. Is having a store that has insanely good prices worth having a store that pays insanely low wages? The upside to low prices is obvious to all, when I was in college in a town 60 miles west of Chicago, [me] and a lot of guys I know survived on Wal-Mart prices. But I would never want to have a full time job there. Wal-Mart plain and simply abuses the Welfare system we currently have in America. I don't blame them the slightest for it; I would do the same in their position. …I'd fight for Wal-Mart the rest of my life if they paid a living wage, but if they don't it's clear to me we are simply subsidizing low cost goods with higher taxes to pay for the benefits of the welfare society."

Recent figures reveal that states now spend more on health care for the poor than they do on elementary and secondary education. The trend where employers foot the bill for insurance coverage is quickly becoming a thing of the past as tax payers are now asked to cover the cost in an effort to deal with the growing problem of the uninsured. A direct local manifestation is Gov. Blagojevich's AllKids plan, which serves to make insurance coverage available to all uninsured children.

Despite enormous public criticism, and individual state struggle, the Federal government has thus far looked the other way, letting Wal-Mart carry on its highly-criticized business-as-usual practices. In April of last year, Maryland lawmakers took the initiative in standing up to Wal-Mart, holding the company accountable for their share of the state's health insurance burden. State delegates voted 82 to 48 in approval of a bill requiring all businesses statewide with more than 10,000 employees to either spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on employee health benefits, or else donate the funds to the state's Medicaid program. Although not directly implicated in the bill's language, with 15,000 employees, Wal-Mart is simply the only company not already spending the 8 percent asked for by Maryland lawmakers.

Although Maryland Gov. Ehrlich vetoed the Fair Share Health Care legislation, state delegates managed to override his decision earlier this month, prompting other states, like New York, to take similar measures against the company. Back in Chicago, the "Wake-Up Wal-Mart" blog (an organization demonstratively critical of the mega-corporation's behavior) announced their success in thwarting Wal-Mart's attempt to build in the city. The achievement prompted one resident to write, "So the anti-Walmites stood their ground and prevented a Wal-Mart from opening in Chicago— Way to go, guys—a real victory for the working man!!! Oops, one problem—they opened next door in Evergreen Park, so now THAT town gets all the revenues, taxes, jobs, and thousands of shoppers willing to part with their money."

Figures from December 2005 reveal that Wal-Mart currently employs 46,467 associates in Illinois.