Memo to Chicago Aldermen: If Aldi can do it, so can Wal-Mart

You could say the Trib scored the next big scoop in the Wal-Mart vs. Chicago story - if only they knew or cared.

Discount grocer Aldi is opening a store at 76th and Ashland in Chicago, just 2 miles from Wal-Mart's proposed store, where they have refused to agree to pay a living wage or stay neutral if their employees want to form a union to fight for a living wage. In today's help wanted section in the Trib, Aldi is advertising for employees.

So what's the scoop? Aldi is paying $12.65 to start, along with full benefits.

That easily meets the requirements of the proposed big box living wage law that Mayor Daley veoted in 2006.

The richest family in America insists on paying workers poverty wages, while just down the street, a much smaller company does the right thing. So when the media, Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Daley decry Chicago Aldermen as job-killers, it's important to remember that the only barrier to Wal-Mart paying a living wage - and getting into Chicago - is its own stubbornness.