Following news earlier this week that Ald. Howard Brookins (21st Ward) intends to introduce an amended redevelopment agreement next month to help clear the way for a second Wal-Mart store in Chicago, the Sun-Times editorial board offered this endorsement of the proposal yesterday:

There are compelling arguments against Wal-Mart. Unions worry a Wal-Mart grocery would undercut wages at established, unionized grocery stores. But this page is moved more by the need for groceries and jobs -- any kind of jobs -- on the South Side.

Last month we flagged a similar endorsement by the Tribune and called them out for citing a suspect $11.25 average hourly wage figure for Chicago's only Wal-Mart store. In justifying their support, the Sun-Times used a similar statistic:

Chicago opened its first Wal-Mart, in Austin neighborhood on the West Side in 2006. In that store's first two years, it generated $10.3 million in new sales tax revenue and created more than 400 permanent jobs. The average hourly wage, excluding managers, is $11.30.

The Sun-Times is likely getting the figures from Ald. Emma Mitts, whose 37th Ward houses the Austin Wal-Mart. Last month, we asked her office for an explanation of how that average hourly wage was calculated.  In response, we received a two-year "report card" on the store and a press release on its track record (both documents can be found at the bottom of this post).  As you'll see, the release cites the report card as the source of the $11.30 figure.  But the report card itself doesn't even mention the number. After looking over the documents, we further pressed Mitts' office about how they came to that statistic, but no follow-up information was provided.

Regardless, based off their own reporting, the papers ought to question the figure.

Roughly two years ago, Wal-Mart touted paying an average hourly wage of $10.99 in the Chicago area, managers included. It seems surprising that, after factoring out management positions, wages have risen on average to $11.30 an hour. 

If that's the case, it's good news and Wal-Mart deserves some credit.  But it also begs the question: If their average wage exceeds $11, why are they still fighting so hard against proposals to set the minimum hourly pay at a mere $10?

As for the editorial's assertion that the South Side needs "any kind of jobs," here's Amisha Patel's response in a Progress Illinois column last March:

The idea that “any job is better than no job” has been advanced among the working poor for centuries. But it’s a false choice – one that only serves to keep those on the edges of social margins grateful for whatever those in power decide to hand out.

Below is Ald. Mitts' press release (click the button in the upper-right corner to enlarge):

And here's the two-year "report card" supplied by her office: