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Target threatens to leave city (Chicago) if 'big-box' wage rule passes
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | July 14, 2006 | FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Posted on 07/14/2006 4:02:49 AM PDT by Chi-townChief

Target is putting plans to build three South Side stores "on hold" -- and making veiled threats to close existing Chicago stores -- if the City Council mandates wage and benefit standards for "big-box" retailers, African-American aldermen warned Thursday.

The saber-rattling is intensifying as the clock winds down toward a July 26 showdown vote on plans to make Chicago the nation's first major city to establish a "living wage" for stores with at least 90,000 square feet of space operated by retailers with $1 billion in sales.

Minneapolis-based Target becomes the second retailing giant to threaten to pull out of the lucrative Chicago market in a last-ditch effort to stop an ordinance championed by organized labor that breezed through the City Council's Finance Committee 15-6 and has attracted support from 33 aldermen.

WAGE WAR

The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. Illinois' minimum wage is $6.50

Most Chicago area Wal-Mart employees average $10.99 an hour, with just a few making the starting wage of $7.25 an hour, Wal-Mart spokesman John Bisio recently said.

As of 2004, Target in many cities had a starting salary of about $7 an hour, published reports said. A few Target workers outside Illinois said they recently started with salaries as low as $6.25 an hour, according to postings on the Target Union! (www.targetunion.org) Web site for store employees.

Wal-Mart has threatened to cancel plans to build as many as 20 Chicago stores over the next five years if retailers are required to pay employees at least $10 an hour and $3 in benefits by July 1, 2010.

'It would be devastation for us'

Mayor Daley is taking the threat seriously. He has challenged aldermen who oppose Wal-Mart's 20-store expansion to describe how they would replace the 8,000 lost jobs.

Target failed to return calls on the admonition communicated to aldermen of the 5th, 9th and 34th wards in recent days. Target real estate executive Chris Case was scheduled to meet with African-American aldermen Thursday, but the meeting was canceled because of scheduling conflicts.

Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) said a Target pullout would be devastating to the 32-acre shopping mall at 119th and Marshfield that developers had hoped to build, with help from a $23 million city subsidy. Home Depot would likely follow Target out the door. As many as 1,000 jobs would be lost, Austin said.

"It would be devastation for us. Our largest employer in the 34th Ward is the Police Department. The second-largest for us would be Jewel. We have no other resources," Austin said.

Referring to the anti-Wal-Mart movement that gave birth to the big-box ordinance, Austin said, "If you want to bully up on Wal-Mart, you've got to bring in the other ones, and damned if you do on them. If they suffer from it, too bad. If you want to control Wal-Mart, you should go about that a different way."

Accused of 'bullying tactics'

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) said she has a letter of intent from Target to build a new store at Marquette and Stony Island in her ward. But the developer has told her the store is "on hold" and that Target may close existing Chicago stores if the big-box ordinance goes through.

Hairston called it little more than a scare tactic. And even if the threat turns out to be real, she's standing firm in support of organized labor.

"Wal-Mart and Target could pay their people a living wage. Then we wouldn't have this problem, and people could actually live on the money they made," Hairston said.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th), chief sponsor of the big-box ordinance, accused Target and Wal-Mart of using "bullying tactics" to stop a train that has already left the station.

"It's an idle threat. ... They're clearly trying to ... intimidate members of the City Council. I am very hopeful that members will hold firm. ... The votes are still there," Moore said. He predicted 33 votes for the ordinance, "maybe more," even though Daley has been buttonholing aldermen to try to stop it.

Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) is still searching for a big-box retailer to replace the Wal-Mart his colleagues nixed at 83rd and Stewart.

Brookins said Wal-Mart executives have told him they may take the lead of the riverboat casinos that ring Chicago and run free shuttle buses to their suburban stores if the big-box ordinance passes.

"I don't know if it was in jest, but they did say it. ... That is an option that they could employ. They could set up locations to have pickup and dropoff. I don't think that is that farfetched," Brookins said.

fspielman@suntimes.com


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: atlasshrugs; chicago; idiots; socialism; target; tarzhay; walmart
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To: Chi-townChief

Shrug Atlas, shrug!


61 posted on 07/14/2006 5:57:42 AM PDT by AD from SpringBay (We have the government we allow and deserve.)
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To: Chi-townChief

The left would like to destroy business and private property. They succeed whenever they are given the chance.


62 posted on 07/14/2006 5:58:11 AM PDT by Leftism is Mentally Deranged (Leftism="liberalism"=socialism="progressivism"=brain of a flatworm)
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To: Mr. Brightside

re: "Plus, these stores will have higher insurance, higher rates of theft and vandalism, and higher employee turnover."

Extortion from the political machine far outweighs shoplifting.

Shoplifting is pretty much the same in the suburbs as in the city, at least in the electronics chain I'm familiar with, and from my many years in loss prevention.


63 posted on 07/14/2006 5:58:20 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: roofgoat

And we aren't against corporate profit at all most of us however don't feel we need the extra tax burden so I guess there really isn't a viable solution for all is there?


64 posted on 07/14/2006 5:58:45 AM PDT by stopem (God Bless the U.S.A the Troops who protect her, and their Commander In Chief !)
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To: stopem
President Reagan answered your question when he said "A little bit socialist is like a little bit pregnant".

Section 8 housing is socialism. Stop those socialism payments and the market will soon find housing - employers will factor in the wages to keep essential employees.

But then they will have to have productive workers and the union/scruel/Democratic Party axis has spent generations producing the present generation of hapless, hopeless 'workers' presently huddled in section 8 housing, drawing their welfare payments.

Socialist cattle in a section 8 stall. The real tragedy is that those socialist cattle could have been productive citizens, leading satisfying and productive lives if America had not tried to perfect socialism and used these fellow citizens as experimental subjects in social engineering delusions.

You lurking Libroids can relax and stop hyper-ventilating. Rant's over.

But the reality lingers on.
65 posted on 07/14/2006 6:00:14 AM PDT by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon Liberty, it is essential to examine principles, - -)
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To: John D

As long as Target keeps its stores clean and uncluttered, you won't hear a peep from this Wal-Mart hater.


66 posted on 07/14/2006 6:00:30 AM PDT by Xenalyte (Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)
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To: Mr. Brightside

"Our largest employer in the 34th Ward is the Police Department."

A neighborhood where the police is the largest employer can't be a good place to locate. The crime rate must be sky high.


67 posted on 07/14/2006 6:01:05 AM PDT by caver (Yes, I did crawl out of a hole in the ground.)
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To: stopem

stopem, there's a guy who wrote a book recently, Dreher (sp?)I believe. He had a nice line about how a true conservative should feel.

A distrust of Big Govt, and an equal distrust of Big Business. I couldn't agree more.

The word Chicago and the word Alderman make me feel sick. Target and Walmart don't make me feel sick (I shop them both), but I will never feel the need to defend them. They are big boys with plenty of lobby money.


68 posted on 07/14/2006 6:03:47 AM PDT by roofgoat
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To: GladesGuru

Good point,

"Section 8 housing is socialism. Stop those socialism payments and the market will soon find housing - employers will factor in the wages to keep essential employees."

That is the answer to this dilemma however will we ever see that come to pass in our lifetime?


69 posted on 07/14/2006 6:04:33 AM PDT by stopem (God Bless the U.S.A the Troops who protect her, and their Commander In Chief !)
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Comment #70 Removed by Moderator

To: CaptObe; AmericaUnited
Marshall Fields owned Target for only a few years and they dumped them last year.

Not exactly. Dayton/Hudson/MF owned Target for quite some time, Mervyn's as well. They started streamlining operations about a decade ago by changing all D/H stores to MF, which had better name recognition nationwide. As high-end retailers began to lose market share to midpoint retailers, Target became more powerful than its parent company, culminating in Target Corporation actually becoming the parent company. The first thing they did was drop Mervyn's, and MF followed soon after.

I worked for Target for most of the '90s but couldn't make a career of it. I'm just too damn hetero.

71 posted on 07/14/2006 6:06:55 AM PDT by grellis (RIP Syd)
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To: roofgoat

Hmm interesting, and that brings up a whole new debate.
You are right about lobbyists. What's a conservative to do :)


72 posted on 07/14/2006 6:07:14 AM PDT by stopem (God Bless the U.S.A the Troops who protect her, and their Commander In Chief !)
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To: Brilliant

'm not in favor of it. I'm just saying that they aren't going to close shop in Chicago over this. At worst, they will raise their prices.

That ain't so brilliant, Brilliant.

Try owning a business, you'll see.


73 posted on 07/14/2006 6:09:32 AM PDT by burroak
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To: newcthem
Right......it is the Dayton Hudson Corp.........As in Mark Dayton, Minnesota's limpdick senator.

There is no such thing as Dayton Hudson Corp anymore. It was renamed to Target Corp several years ago. This was done partly because, of all the holdings that the company held (Daytons, Hudsons, Target, Mervyns, Marshall Fields) by far the most profitable was Target.

As of now, only Target remains of the group.

While it is quite possible, even likely, that Mark Dayton still owns shares of Target Corp, he has long since divested himself of any controlling interests in the company.

And yes, he is a real joy to those of us living here in Minnesota.

74 posted on 07/14/2006 6:12:37 AM PDT by Egon (We are number one! All others are number two... or lower.)
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To: stopem
Well, I work for a moderately large and quickly growing upscale grocery retail chain and I can tell you a $13 effective min wage with benefits would make us close our doors down and we are far more profitable % wise than Target or Walmart. Most of our stores are only 25k sq ft though so we wouldnt' be effected by this. We do have 2 stores in the Chicago area.

How many do leech? A lot. Does that justify raising prices for literally everyone in town lowering everyone's real wages to force this onto Target & Walmart? Nope.

75 posted on 07/14/2006 6:12:48 AM PDT by rb22982
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To: stopem
As I said as a taxpayer I don't want to have to pay for these low wage earners receiving section 8 and welfare benefits



And if these low wagers have NO job you are going to pay less? I doubt it. These low paying jobs are for entry level. If a person is worth more they will be paid more in order to keep them. There is no surplus of competent workers. Employees should be paid according to their worth, not some arbitrary amount set by politicians.
76 posted on 07/14/2006 6:14:25 AM PDT by John D
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To: Chi-townChief

Why not make the minimum "living wage" at least $20/hour plus 401(k) and benefits, maybe higher? Yeah, that'll be a real boom to the economy...


77 posted on 07/14/2006 6:15:04 AM PDT by DTogo (I haven't left the GOP, the GOP left me.)
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To: stopem
The minimum wage battle equates to either the big box employer pays a living wage OR the taxpayer is subsidizing the big box low-wage earners. What am I missing?

Economics is not a zero sum game. The size of the pie can grow in a capitalist economy where both employees and employers have an incentive for growth.

The whole point here is that Chicago Aldermen are illiterate in economics 101. They have no concept of supply and demand. They have no concept of anything except centralized CONTROL of a static economy and the transfer of money from the rich to the poor BECAUSE the rich are rich and because the poor are poor.

Invariably, when a socialist program fails, the caring solution is to make the program bigger and throw more money at the problem.

The corruption in Chicago is a special twist. The political machine has run a lot of neighborhood business out of Chicago. That neighborhood business left due to extortion from the local ward committeeman's machine. Of course, that hurt the coffers of the local machine's and strengthened the centralized control of Daley over the ward committeemen, including the Black politicians.

Both Black and non-Black ward politicians who would like to rise within the organization now lack the base of contributors. There is a conscious attempt on the part of ward politicians to attract "business" to their ward so that they have someone they can extort money from.

Sometimes this extortion is a blatant "Give me cash to put in my freezer". But more often, it is "Hire my unqualified nephew for a do-nothing no-show job if you don't want to be hassled by the health inspector."

Well, come to think of it. Their nephew is qualified for a do-nothing no-show job.

78 posted on 07/14/2006 6:19:13 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: AmericaUnited
For once I'm proud of something "French", showing some brass ones.

Target isn't French owned, you idiot.

79 posted on 07/14/2006 6:19:22 AM PDT by xrp (Fox News Channel: MISSING WHITE GIRL NETWORK)
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To: bfree; Gabz; Graybeard58

I mean...over here, LOL! (Two postings of same article.)


80 posted on 07/14/2006 6:19:40 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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