Word: warded
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...long since been emptied. "One of the guys here has been trying to call FEMA, and all he gets is a busy signal or voice mail," Gupta said. The stress was so overwhelming that perhaps half a dozen hospital staff members had to be treated in the psychiatric ward. The basement morgue was flooded, so the growing numbers of bodies were stacked in body bags in the stairwells...
When Emma Mitts, an alderwoman in West Chicago, was appointed in 2000, retail in her 37th Ward consisted of corner stores. Mitts vowed to upgrade the options. In 2003, at a conference sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers, Mitts met with Wal-Mart officials who informed her that they had tried once before to put a store in Chicago but had been stiff-armed. "The unions stopped them," said Mitts. "But the unions weren't an issue...
Chicago is a union town. But in Mitts' ward--and among many poor blacks--some unions rank only a couple of notches above the Ku Klux Klan. Black leaders in Chicago have repeatedly charged that the building-trades unions, traditionally controlled by whites, are keeping a grip on jobs. While 37% of Chicago is black, only 10% of all new apprentices in the construction trades between 2000 and 2003 were black, according to the Chicago Tribune. The unions that most vociferously oppose Wal-Mart are not in the building trades but represent retail workers, such as the United Food...
What Wal-Mart also found in West Chicago was nothing short of a natural extension of its corporate philosophy. Wal-Mart built a $285 billion corporation by going where its competitors are not. That used to be small towns or underserved suburbs. Chicago's 37th Ward, with its scant retail options, is an urban village, a first cousin to the sorts of communities Wal-Mart had always targeted. Combine the lack of jobs and stores with a strong antiunion streak, and the West Side is perfect for Wal-Mart. "If you're going to pick a spot, why wouldn...
...Mart, local residents have found a partner of the moment with which they hope to prove a point. "I'm impressed by all these young people who haven't had access to jobs, who are now excited about the opportunity," says Mary Tuff, who lives in the 37th Ward. "They say that all our young people do is just hang on the corner, but it's not true, and now we have a chance to show them." Arguments about the supposed low wages, expensive health plans and gender discrimination are almost beside the point in the 37th Ward...