Chicago, Greed, Wal-Mart.

Hey folks,


Will Wal-Mart be leaving Chicago? I would. That’s right, if I were the owner and operator of the largest retail chain in the World, I would be hanging the sign on the doors that reads,

"To our most valued customers. We thank you for your years of service. We are sorry to inform you that due to the greed of a small few, we have been left with a choice. We could either pay an unfair, and unearned, wage in the city of Chicago, or go elsewhere. We have decided to close our doors to protect the rest of our customers from being affected in the need to increase our prices. Again, thank you. Sincerely Wal-Mart mgt."

According to the AP Article

The ordinance, which passed 35-14 Wednesday after three hours of impassioned debate, requires mega-retailers to pay wages of at least $10 an hour plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010. It would only apply to companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet.

The City Council calls this a living wage. I call this ridiculous. Whatever happened to going to work for a company, AGREEING to the salary they were offering, working hard and working your way up through the company? You KNOW what they are offering when you CHOSE to accept the job. You have a "right" to work there or not. You can work somewhere else because they pay more, and if enough people do that, then Wal-Mart would be forced to raise their salary even higher to attract workers. But to DEMAND that they pay $10 an hour plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010?

This is not an earned salary. No employee has to work hard and work their way up. This is greed. Plain an simple. Someone, somewhere, sat back and looked at the money that Wal-Mart deals with and said, I want some of that. Of course the employees do not mind. Then you have the general public thinking to themselves, hey, the biggest retailer in the world can afford it. Who cares?

Well, I’m here to tell you that YOU should care. Why? If they choose to stay in Chicago, YOU, the consumer, will be paying this outrageous, and unfair salary for their employees to stock the selves and check you out. Picture this, according to the Chicago City Counsel, the guy pushing carts outside, may be making more money than some of the shoppers that go there.

Do you think, as Mayor Richard M. Daley warned, that the living wage proposal would drive jobs and desperately needed development from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods and lead giants like Wal-Mart to abandon the city.?

Listen to what Michael Lewis, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of store operations, said in a statement,

"This imposes special interest mandates that will unfairly deny savings and job opportunities to those who need them most. It's wrong for the City Council to tell the people of Chicago where to shop and to make it harder for inner-city residents to find jobs."

Yes folks, I do not really care all that much for Wal-Mart, but I do understand that this is an insane decision on the City’s part, that could very well destroy their economy. I also understand that this is yet another example of people wanting to be given everything, and do nothing. Greed will drive Wal-Mart out, and keep others from coming in. I would hope that Mayor Daley will veto this, but time will tell.
Peter