Now that Mayor Daley's Olympic dream has gone up in flames, a South Side alderman is turning up the heat for City Council approval of Chicago's second Wal-Mart -- and first supercenter that sells groceries.

Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) said Monday he intends to "hound" Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) every day until Burke holds a hearing on an amended redevelopment agreement that would pave the way for a Wal-Mart supercenter at a former industrial site at 83rd and Stewart in Chatham.

» Click to enlarge image


(AP)



"The Olympics were a side show to my cause and an excuse for many to say, 'We ought to put this off so that we can have peace with the unions,'" said Brookins, whose ward includes the site.

"Now that those union workers aren't gonna be employed building these fabulous buildings all over the city, at least this is some immediate help for those local tradesmen. . . . And it's a tremendous help to stop the leaking that continues to plague our city with people going to the suburbs looking for a bargain."

Brookins said the argument that Wal-Mart needs to pay a living wage "rings hollow." He vowed to produce copies of union agreements negotiated by the United Food and Commercial Workers representing employees at Jewel and Dominicks.

"Wal-Mart is paying the same wages. It's a red-herring for them to start talking about living wages," Brookins said.

Burke responded to the pressure from Brookins by insisting that Wal-Mart "recognize the long history of involvement in this city by organized labor."

"We would like to have peace with organized labor consistent with what a living wage would be and what community improvements would occur as a result of Wal-Mart coming to Chicago," he said.

As for Brookins' claim that Wal-Mart pays the same as Jewel and Dominicks, Burke said, "If that's the case, then it's incumbent upon the parties to find a vehicle for reducing that to a written agreement. With unions that represent the workers at Jewel and Dominicks, they have a written agreement to that effect. What does Wal-Mart have?"

Pressed on when he would call a hearing, Burke said, "I'm gonna confer with Ald. Brookins. I guess this is his first day of hounding me."

On July 29, Burke and Rules Committee Chairman Richard Mell (33rd) used a parliamentary maneuver to delay the Wal-Mart vote until after the Olympic decision.

The last thing Daley wanted before the IOC vote was another donnybrook with labor that would have jeopardized the labor peace he carefully crafted to bolster Chicago's Olympic bid.

But now that the IOC has chosen Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Brookins said there are "no more excuses" for putting the brick on Wal-Mart.

The Council's 2004 vote to approve Wal-Mart's first and only store in Austin gave birth to the big-box minimum wage ordinance snuffed out by Daley's first and only veto.