This week’s City Council zoning committee turned out to be a love fest among union leaders, Walmart, and the big-box retailer’s chief promoter in the council, Ninth Ward alderman Anthony Beale, who were all able to claim some sort of a victory after a “deal” was been reached on the Pullman Park development, a housing and retail project that includes the city’s second Walmart store.
Right before the zoning committee was set to approve the Walmart portion of the project, Beale and retiring Chicago Federation of Labor president Dennis Gannon could be seen hugging each other in the lounge behind council chambers as if they were longtime friends who’d just returned home from some epic adventure, like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker after blowing up the Death Star or Pee-wee Herman and his bicycle after escaping the Warner Brothers movie lot.
Just a few days ago, the union organization and Walmart’s allies in City Hall seemed to be at each other’s throats.