Daley Stirs the Wal-Mart Pot, City Unions Look at Compromise
By Kevin Robinson in News on Dec 17, 2009 3:00PM
Photo by code poet
Wal-Mart, for their part, wanted nothing to do with discussing any of this in the media. John Bisio, manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart in Illinois, told both the Sun-Times and the Tribune that the company hasn’t been approached with a specific proposal for wage standards that would lead to the labor movement dropping its opposition to Wal-Mart in the city. "It doesn't make sense for us to dignify that, because to do so would be to accept that what we offer (compared to other large retail companies) isn't good enough, and that's just not the case," Bisio said.
While this might seem like progress coming from the mayor’s office on a contentious issues that’s clearly emotional to many Chicagoans, the fact of the matter is that, regardless of whatever agreement Chicago’s unions accede to, Wal-Mart will have negotiated wages and benefits with a labor organization, something that is anathema to the way that business is run. And while that might seem like a win for workers, the reality is that Chicago’s unions, by agreeing to a basic wage proposal without the employees of Wal-Mart voting on the agreement, stop being a labor movement, and becomes little more than a public interest lobbying group. American unions have struggled mightily in the last decade to maintain the gains they’ve made for working and middle-class families. Negotiating a static “living wage” through the city council just isn’t good enough; they need to fight for their members, and their industries, or risk becoming that stifling, undemocratic form of unionism, the Labor Boss.