by Fran Spielman

Chicago Sun Times

Wal-Mart would accept a city-mandated minimum wage, but only if it applies to all Chicago businesses -- not just the world's largest retailer, a company official said Thursday.

One day after Mayor Daley urged all interested parties to forge a compromise to pave the way for the store's expansion in the city, the Wal-Mart executive who calls the shots in Illinois laid the groundwork for a possible deal.

Rolando Rodriguez, vice president and regional general manager for Wal-Mart, said the company would be willing to swallow a Chicago wage mandate under certain conditions.

"If there is a minimum wage ordinance that applies to everybody, and every business in Chicago is held to that ordinance, then the answer would be yes," Rodriguez said Thursday. "There's no need for Wal-Mart to be singled out. Why is it all other retailers are allowed to build in Chicago and we are not?"

Earlier this year, Santa Fe, N.M., passed a minimum wage of $9.85 an hour that applies to employees of all city contractors, city-licensed businesses and nonprofits, including part-time and temporary workers.

Wal-Mart went along with the ordinance. It has one store thriving in Santa Fe, and it's about to break ground on a super-center that sells groceries.

In 2006, Daley vetoed a "big-box'' minimum wage ordinance that would have required Wal-Mart and other retailing giants to pay their employees at least $13 an-hour in wages and benefits in 2010.

Thirty-four votes were needed to override the veto. Supporters of the big-box ordinance mustered only 31 votes. Organized labor subsequently spent millions to elect a more union-friendly City Council.

Ald. Joe Moore (49th), chief sponsor of the big-box ordinance, said Thursday he is encouraged by Wal-Mart's offer to accept a broad-based minimum wage.

"At least they're talking about it, which seems to me to be a significant step in the right direction and a basis for further discussion. I consider that progress," Moore said.

Moore said while he targeted large retailers previously, "I would be open to discussing something that has a broader application."

Asked whether he would push to exempt smaller, mom-and-pop businesses, Moore said, "I can't say they should be exempt or shouldn't be. That could be a matter of negotiation. . . . It all depends on what's being offered."

Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), who is trying to broker an agreement that could bring at least five Wal-Mart supercenters to minority communities, said his talks "have nothing to do with other retailers.

"If you start putting something like that in, all the other retailers will be upset. We'll put more businesses out of business. And every employee would be lobbying their elected officials to get them a raise," Beale said.

Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, added, "We have always believed it should be done at the federal level. Then we're on a level playing field with other states."

Wal-Mart has one Chicago store in the West Side's Austin community and is seeking City Council approval to build a supercenter at 83rd and Steward in the South Side's Chatham neighborhood.

The retailer currently pays a starting salary of $8 an hour. But Rodriguez insisted that the average hourly wage is "well over $11."

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/1946476,wal-mart-city-wage-121809.article

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