Daley Pitch Probably Too Late

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

If Chicago becomes the nation’s first major city to mandate wage and benefit standards for Wal-Mart and other retailing giants, two political powerhouses will have themselves to blame: Mayor Daley and big business.

Distracted by corruption scandals and disengaged from recent City Council action, Daley waited too long to jump with both feet into the big-box debate. Now, he could be forced to either wait for a legal challenge or issue his first mayoral veto—and hope that organized labor lacks the political muscle to line up the 34 votes needed to override.

It didn’t have to be that way. Daley could have seen the writing on the wall two years ago, when Wal-Mart’s entry into the Chicago market mobilized the anti-big-box movement.

But, the mayor was asleep at the switch. He didn’t start lobbying aldermen and playing the race card—denouncing the ordinance as “redlining”—until late June, when it had already breezed through the Finance Committee by a vote of 15 to 6.

By that time, the train had already left the station. Thirty-three aldermen had signed onto an ordinance that would require Chicago retailers with more than 90,000 square feet of space owned by companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales to pay their employees at least $10 an hour in wages and $3 in benefits by 2010.

The head-count has reportedly dipped slightly, but not enough to change the outcome, despite a furious lobbying campaign.

It has featured radio commercials, full-page newspaper ads and threats by Wal-Mart and Target to abandon their Chicago expansion plans, as well as dueling rallies, news conferences and behind-the-scenes arm-twisting.

“There’s a certain obligation to live up to commitments that were made a long time ago to the various union leaders that solicited support from members of the Council,” said Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th), who plans to support the big-box ordinance “If somebody gave their word, they’re honoring a commitment.”

Burke was asked if the outcome might have been different if Daley had gotten on his soapbox sooner.

“I can’t speculate on ifs and maybes. I understand his arguments, and they’re valid. But, I’ve never seen, in 37 years, union support so unified on one issue. They’ve been very effective in reaching out to members of the Council and making it clear that this is an issue of the highest importance.”

Ald. Pat O’Connor (40th) predicted that the big-box ordinance would pass over the mayor’s objections, even though, “It’s getting closer and closer.”

O’Connor said Daley could have made more of an impact if he had spoken up sooner—even in his weakened political state with city hiring under a microscope and many of his political armies dismantled and the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs neutered.

“It puts people in a tough position” when Daley joins the debate at the 11th-hour, said O’Connor, who’s standing firm in support of organized labor, even though he’s Daley’s unofficial City Council floor leader.

“Generally speaking, when people vote in a committee, it pretty much is an indication of where they’re at. A lot of people will have a difficult time coming back off of that vote and trying to maintain any personal integrity.”

Business leaders will share the blame for failing to counter labor’s threat to challenge aldermen who dare to oppose wage and benefit standards, according to Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper.

“The business community didn’t wake up fast enough,” he said. “Over the years, the City Council has been somewhat pro-business. We’ve always known the mayor was there to be the bridge. We let the mayor down. We didn’t recognize early enough—two years ago—that this was an issue we should have been engaged on.”

As for Daley, Roper said, “I don’t put the blame at his feet. ... I put the blame at the feet of the business community that has so many [other] issues to deal with.”

Posted by Laura Jack on Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Click Here for a Printer-Friendly Version