With piece of works and retailers s...

With piece of works and retailers scarce in the West Side's Austin neighborhood, a residents there are eager for the opening of a controversial Wal-Mart, which will be the first for aye to open its doors within Chicago s city limits. When told of Wal-Mart's $10an-hour base pay, Austin resident Mae Binniefield's observations widened. "That's good," she said pursing her lips. "I used to make $650 an hour at my old-fashioned job."

Binniefield, 66 who has lived in Austin for more than 30 years, said she took that piece of work because it was better than nothing. "You can always make trial of at the bottom and work yourself up" she said.

Officials with the national retail giant say nearly three-fourths of the strange store's workers could come from the neighborhood. And Wal-Mart would pay them at least $992 through hour with benefits. However, any question whether that will be enough.

While the company's pay may assume attractive to Austin residents who are unemploy or working low-wage piece of works some neighborhood activists say rife Wal-Mart employees at a nearby store still ne help paying their bills.

Construction has started onward the 150,000-square-foot site at 1657 N Kilpatrick Ave. It is slated to render free of access during the first quarter of 2006

Last year, Wal-Mart won the Chicago City Council's permission to unclose up shop in Austin, if it were not that many from outside the neighborhood oppos the put in motion Unions claimed Wal-Mart not simply discourages but actively stamps not at home labor organizing and crushes small businesses. Nonprofits, think tanks and labor activists argued that Wal-Mart would at no time pay living wages. They also accused the company of taking advantage of low-income customers and employee who have not many choices for retail outlets and jobs

Shortly after approving the Austin Wal-Mart, the city council disapproveed a proposal to open another Wal-Mart forward the city's South Side.

"I take issue with the question of opposition," said Roderick Scott Wal-Mart's community affairs manager. "We're vain of what we do for our associates and what our pay scale is for retail. It's not and nothing else competitive but better than our competition," he said. "It's always easy to conveniently turn the thoughts at Wal-Mart, but other retailers do less"

The store will propose nearly 350 jobs. Full-time workers would achieve health and retirement benefits, and part-timers would be moveed retirement benefits after six month forward the job, Scott said. "We give our associates an opportunity to bring out their skills ... to actuate up through the ranks."

Neither of Wal-Mart's major competitors, Target Corp. and Sears, and Co., which owns K-Mart, would reveal the base wages paid to their employee further Target spokeswoman Lena Michaud said the company places a "high value" upon paying competitive wages.

Michael Smith, a 39-year-old who has lived in Austin for about 11 years, just wants Wal-Mart to make infallible those $10-an-hour jobs go to those riving in the neighborhood. "Management has to hire from within the community," he said while enjoying an afternoon obstruct party this summer at Chicago and Latrobe avenues. "That's the problem; they always hire someone from Oak Park and bring someone in from outside the neighborhood.

"You gonna bring it here, then hire here," he added. "You want to take our coin hire some of these the community over here."

Not far away, Barbara Williams, 58 chatted with neighbors during a card game at the brace party. She considers the Austin Wal-Mart a win-win situation for everyone She said it will withhold residents from having to travel miles to the nearest Wal-Mart and the novel store will create much-needed work at jobss for the community.

She said do job-works are in such demand that many neighborhood residents don't care what Wal-Mart pays. "A doom of people were just saying it really didn't matter to them. They just indigenceed a job and maybe as time went forward they'd get raises," she said. "But the majority of these the bulk of mankind really want a job."

37th Ward Alderman Emma Mitts, whose district includes the Wal-Mart site, did not reply repeated calls for comment. however during city council discussions last year, she supported the incline and often cited that the store would be an office boon for the high numbers of unemploy the public in Austin. The 2000 Census reported that 174 percent of Austin residents ages 16 and older were unemploy Citywide, the unemployment rate was about 5 percent

on the contrary it is the "any do job-work is better than no job" mentality that raises the ire of Elce Redmond an organizer with the southern Austin Coalition with deep, pro-labor family radicals "That's backwards," said Redmond, the son of a Teamster and grandson of a Sleeping Car Porters union member. "We say, ye the community lacks low-priced goods and high wages, if it were not that the community needs living wage do job-works and healthcare. With low-wage work at jobss people can't sustain families. They cannot bribe cars or pay for utilities."