Wal-Fracas

By vouchey in News on Jul 21, 2004 1:10PM

It's easy to hate Wal-Mart. The oversized store, the annoying smiley face used in advertising, the funny smell. Not to mention the low wages, and now class-action sexual harassment suit. But darn-it. They really do have low prices. And that sure comes in handy, doesn't?

So it's only a matter of time before Wal-Mart is finally given the green light to break ground on their first Chicago store in Austin. Since the store has received zoning approval from the city, Chicago aldermen are piling on with other requirements for the store. The biggie was a "living wage" requirement, calling for the store to provide $9.43 an hour plus $3 an hour toward benefits if they don't already provide health insurance. And now, members of City Council have introduced a "Buy American" ordinance requiring at least 40% of the products sold to be American produced.

Frankly, we at Chicagoist find the whole "Buy American" thing pleasantly anachronistic. In an era when foreign cars are built on American soil, and American companies are now based off-shore, what exactly is "American made"? Sure we get the point that we don't want to send manufacturing jobs overseas, but is the Chicago City Council really going to reverse the foreign trade imbalance?