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"We need jobs" versus "We mustn't settle for just anything" at forum on Walmart
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"I don't know that it is required of this community to change our whole way of life so Walmart can make money."
So said Ald. Freddrenna M. Lyle(D-6th. Ward) to over 200 people at a Chatham forum this past Saturday(Nov. 7) held to discuss the plans of Walmart, the world's largest corporation, to bring one of its patented Superstores onto the open site at W.83rd. St. and Stewart, across the Dan Ryan Expressway from Chatham, one of Chicago's leading black middle class neighborhoods.
"If anyone can tell me a better way to get jobs into our community, please tell me". So said Ald. Howard Brookins(D-21st. Ward), who has fought for years, so far unsuccessfully, to get the Walmart's store onto the Stewart site, only to be blocked by other members of the Chicago City Council, including Ald. Lyle. Under Chicago rules a major business, such as Walmart , cannot get the necessary licenses without pre-approval from all aldermen representing wards adjoining the ward where the business will be located. Lyle is one of those who has withheld that approval.
The usually cordial, but occasionally stormy forum, held at St. James Lutheran Church, 8000 S. Michigan, also heard from Rev. Booker Vance, from the Good Jobs Chicago coalition, and from Elce Redmond, from the South Austin Coalition, on the West Side, home of the only Walmart store currently within the city limits, as well as numerous comments from attendees in a forum best charcterized as split almost evenly between people sympathetic to Walmart, people hostile to it, and those on the fence.
For those who want the Walmart store the case for Walmart is summed in one word: jobs, some 400 to 500 of them. For those against the store, the case against Walmart is summed up in one question: at what price?
Ald. Lyle admitted to having personal, philosophical and community concerns regarding Walmart, but said as alderman the community concerns come first. They include....
1. Walmart's reputation of moving into a community like an 800-pound gorilla, gradually putting out of business all the local businesses, then abandoning the store when it stops being pofitable, leaving the community bereft of businesses. The preservation and advancement of small businesses, especially African-American businesses, has always been a major priority of Ald. Lyle.
"I refuse to do anything to hurt small business", she said, to thundering applause.
2. Walmart's unwillingness to pay living wages, allow its workers to unionize, or establish health benefits for its workers. Ald Lyle made it clear she saw no reason Walmart cannot do better.
3. Traffic congestion: Chatham is a residential, bungalow-dominated neighborhood. Ald Lyle said by Walmart's own estimates the store would attract up to 25,000 cars on a typical Saturday in an area where W. 83rd. St. is narrow, W. 87th. St. has been deteriorating for years, traffic is already slow, a major mall sprawls just a short distance from the proposed store and then there's the Dan Ryan Expressway running between the store and the Chatham neighborhood.
She said neighbors and block clubs on several residential blocks along E. 87th. St., the other side of the Dan Ryan, have already put in requests for cul-de-sacs to stop traffic from overflowing onto residential streets. Also, Walmart itself supports building a bridge over the Dan Ryan at 85th St., a move she opposes because the stimulus money, already being used to rebuild 87th. St., does not need to build yet another bridge to accomodate what she considers to be a neighborhood-wrecking corporation.
Ald. Brookins, speaking almost four times as long, because he was the only clear-cut Walmart supporter among the main speakers, spoke passionately of the economic desperation of his ward, aggravated by what he called "racist thinking" on the part of other major retailers he's tried to entice onto the open site at W. 83rd and Stewart. He accused Whole Foods Market of refusing to come onto theSouth Side because it thinks, he claims, South Siders are not educated or sophisticated enough to appreciate its health conscious, organically grown products. He accused Costco of simply refusing to even consider expanding to a South Side location. He said Target refused to consider the site because it already has a store in its Chatham mall, between E. 85th and E. 87th. Sts., in Ald. Lyle's ward.
"Freddrenna Lyle is not my enemy", Ald. Brookins was quick to point out. "We disagree on this issue, but we agree on so many other issues.........but I can't put up a wall on (W.) 95th. and Ashland, to stop people from shopping at the Walmart's in Evergreen Park. I can't stop people from going to the suburbs to shop at Walmart." He said African-Americans who live in the 21st., 6th., 17th. and 34th. wards spend approximately $80 million a year at suburban Walmart stores. "They're hurting Chicago doing that. They're hurting the CTA(Chicago Transit Authority) doing that", explaining that sales tax money and funds that could go to keep mass transit viable are flowing out of the city and marveling at the economic hyprocrisy of African-American shoppers.
He said his own church has a sign urging parishioners not to shop at Walmart, but still, they're spending millions at Walmart. If only Walmart would be allowed to open its store, the money could be diverted back into the community to create jobs. He said Walmart already markets products of African-American companies, such as frozen pizzas from Reggio Pizza, the oldest and largest African-American owned pizza making company and has committed to working with other local businesses.
Rev. Booker reminded the people that the only time African-Americans have ever had full employment was slavery and complained, "we must not get to the point where we accept just anything." His Good Jobs Coalition distributed leaflets detailing the following complaints about Walmart.
1. Walmart reports its health insurance covers only 50.2% of their 1.4 million U.S. employees, leaving 700,000 with no health benefits or reliance on taxpayer-funded programs.
2. In 2007, Walmart reported over $351 billion in annual revenue, which would enable it to pay a $1 per hour wage increase to every employee, without affecting their profit margin, by simply raising prices just one-half penny per dollar.
( It does have to be pointed out that Walmart has sustained a serious decline in its profitability due to the current recession).
3. Over 80% of Walmart's suppliers are based in China.
4. Some 50% of Americans applying for food stamps have someone in the household who is working. Rev. Booker's organization said it is simply not enought to have a job. The wages have to be such that families can afford to feed and provide for their members.
Rev. Booker demanded Walmart commit to the following principles...
1. Livable wages.
2. Comprehensive benefits.
3. Stability for the future( Walmart is accused of having a very high turnover rate).
4. Respect for workers'rights( including the right to join a union).
5. Enhancement to the community.
No one from Walmart attended the forum. Ald. Brookins said in their defense that an annual meeting of top Walmart executives from across the country to its Arkansas headquarters coincided with the forum. However, when attendees started making their own comments, two attendees spoke harshly of Walmart's failure to send anyone to this forum. This writer was one of those. You should know this.
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