Ald. Beale: Agreement Reached Over Wal-Marts

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 21, 2010 5:20PM

If Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) is to be believed, it looks like we could be on our way to an expansion of Wal-Marts throughout the city. Beale has told the Sun-Times he plans on holding a press conference later this afternoon at which he plans to announce the end of a stalemate between the box store chain and labor leaders that will clear the way for more stores in town. The problem is, for now, both the store and labor leaders say there's no compromise, including Chicago Federation of Labor spokesman Nick Kaleba who said, “Not that I’ve heard of.” Still, Beale says it's a done deal and used some interesting imagery: “This is the end of the road. We’re at the end of the rainbow. We knew we were close. The last piece was a compromise on the wages. Everybody gave and took a little. It will mean Wal-Mart will be able to locate anywhere they wish to locate. It’s gonna pave the way for endless amounts of Wal-Marts in the city of Chicago.” Beale says there are three points that led to the compromise:

• A “community benefits” agreement that will guarantee local residents jobs at Wal-Mart stores.
• A “project labor agreement” that will guarantee stores are built by organized labor.
• And the “final piece” — an unspecified agreement on wages.

Ald. Danny Solis (25th), who's currently in Washington, D.C., told the Sun-Times, “A deal is in the works. I’m supposed to be briefed on the details at 3 p.m.” No word if a gold-pooping leprechaun would be hired as the official greeter for the first new Wal-Mart store to go up.