12 January 2010 –After a meeting of the Chicago City Council, Walmart’s dreams of coming to Chicago have been thwarted yet again. The City Council turned down another proposal by Walmart and Alderman Ed Burke from the 14th Ward. The “Living Wage” proposal was an ordinance that would require large businesses of 50 or more employees to be required to pay a minimum of $11.03 per hour to its employees. In the face of evidence that the first Chicago Wal-Mart did not create any jobs, unions, retailers, and Aldermen could not agree.
Walmart has been trying to open stores within the city of Chicago for years. I am sure this will not be the last time Chicago will have to decide to Walmart or Not to Walmart.
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January 12, 2010 at 1:56 pm
The study you link to is completely flawed. There a thousands of other variables that influence employment that were not factored in or controlled for in the study. The Wal-mart situation is fairly simple:
1. Many people prefer Wal-mart to other retailers, yet politicians believe they should be able to control where people shop.
2. Wal-mart offers lower prices than many competing retailers. This allows low to medium earners to have a significantly higher standard of living.
3. The money people save at Wal-mart is spent elsewhere. If you compete head to head with Wal-mart you might lose, but it’s a win for everybody else.