How we got here: Wal-Mart's Chicago story

Before she was an Alderman, Toni Foulkes was an activist for the big box living wage ordinance.

Right now in Chicago, Wal-Mart is massing a monumental campaign to win the ability to build more stores in Chicago. Standing in their way is the Chicago City Council, which has blocked the company’s expansion because of its horrible labor record. Most of the press in Chicago has treated the Aldermen like they woke up one morning as serial job-killers. But it’s actually round four of a years-long battle to determine the quality of jobs in the city.

Five years ago, Wal-Mart moved to open two stores in Chicago. To do so, it needed the permission of the Chicago’s Aldermen for zoning changes. It triggered a massive debate about the quality of jobs it would bring and whether those jobs were new or just cannibalized from other businesses. Wal-Mart won permission to open its store on the West Side, but fell short for its south side store.

Two years later, Wal-Mart spent untold amounts of money to defeat an ordinance that would require big box stores to basically match the pay and benefits of the unionized grocery stores they will be competing with. It was a nasty fight, with Mayor Daley, Wal-Mart and Target openly race-baiting, despite polling, referendums and rallies that showed that the idea of requiring large retailers to pay a living wage was popular all over the city, especially in African American and Latino communities.

The Big Box Living Wage ordinance was passed by the Chicago City Council, with 35 Aldermen voting in favor, 14 voting against, and 1 Alderman sat out the vote. Mayor Daley vetoed the ordinance and proponents needed 34 votes to override, but came up with only 31 (again, 1 Alderman missed the vote). So the Living Wage ordinance was dead, but it hovered over the next year’s Aldermanic elections like a ghost with some unfinished business.

How much would the country’s 2^nd richest company spend to avoid paying a living wage?

Well, in Chicago’s 2007 Municipal elections, Wal-Mart spent a whopping $285,000 to elect anti-living-wage Aldermen. They went 5 for 11 (counting candidates they directly contributed to).

That meant that, of the 18 Aldermen who had stuck with Wal-Mart and Mayor Daley, only 12 remained.

So, the City Council is now filled with over 30 Aldermen who had made it clear in their campaigns, or their previous votes, that they expected the country’s 2^nd richest company (Fortune 500 rank is #2 with $405 billion in revenue) to pay a living wage.

Wal-Mart’s response: La, la, la, we can’t hear you! So now we have another massively expensive campaign to open more poverty wage stores in Chicago.