Brookins: Significant resistance to Chatham Walmart

It is long overdue for the community to put pressure on the aldermen who oppose another Walmart within the city’s limits, said Ald. Howard Brookins (21st).

The South Side alderman has been heavily courting the Arkansas-based retail giant for six years to build a Walmart in his ward on 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue, but he failed to garner the support from fellow aldermen, he said.

“There is significant resistance from South Side aldermen. Many jobs are needed. The people are struggling to support their families. Walmart can only help provide much needed jobs for the residents,” Brookins told the Defender.

Walmart opened its first Chicago store in 2006 on the West Side on West North Avenue.

The West Side store created more than 400 jobs and pays an hourly average of $11.30, according to a Two Year Report Card released last year by Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), whose ward houses the city's only Walmart.

The retailer hoped to build more until the proposed “big box” ordinance a year later stalled their efforts.

The ordinance, vigorously backed by labor unions, required all businesses with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores with more than 90,000 square feet to pay a minimum wage of at least $11 per hour, $13 per hour with benefits.

The City Council passed the ordinance but Mayor Richard M. Daley vetoed it.

The issue is currently held up in the council’s Committee on Finance, chaired by Ald. Ed Burke (14th). The council cannot vote unless the issue makes it out of the committee. Brookins said it’s at Burke’s discretion to put the matter back on the table. The next finance committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8. An agenda has yet to be released.

Several aldermen, including Alds. Pat Dowell (3rd), Toni Preckwinkle (4th) and Freddrenna Lyle (6th) – publicly oppose Walmart coming to the city. An inadequate living wage and propensity of hurting the small businesses in the area were at issue.

Labor unions in the city who stated Walmart doesn’t pay middle-class wages aren’t alone. A coalition of clergy and community organizations – Good Jobs Chicago – took the same stance.

“People only hear one side of the story, that a Walmart job is better than no job. When they hear the other side, it hits them that $8 an hour won’t begin to cover basic necessities or get people off public assistance,” said Latrell Smith, a member of the Good Jobs Chicago.

Brookins said he and GJC want the same thing, but he finds it “disingenuous” the coalition targets Walmart.

“Target is a big box. So is Best Buy. So, I guess it’s OK for them to come into our neighborhoods, but not Walmart. They’re all paying about the same,” the alderman said.

Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) said while he understands workers need to receive a good wage that labor unions and other groups want Walmart to pay, he must stand by the decision of his community.

“My constituents are in support of Walmart. The jobs are needed now. It's about who I represent and they want Walmart to come to the South Side,” Cochran said, whose ward is a few miles north of Brookins’.

If the council doesn’t approve Walmart setting up shop, the suburbs will continuously reap tax benefits meant for the city, they say.

“People are taking pilgrimages to the suburban stores and Evergreen Park is surviving on the backs of Chicago residents,” Brookins said.

Outside of the West Side Walmart, the stores nearest Chicago are in Evergreen Park and Bedford Park.