GILROY
– Wal-Mart representatives descended upon city officials and the
media this week to make a case for putting the retail giant’s first
supersized version of its stores in Northern California.
GILROY – Wal-Mart representatives descended upon city officials and the media this week to make a case for putting the retail giant’s first supersized version of its stores in Northern California.
Over the past two days, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman and the public affairs specialist she hired met with city planning staff, city Planning Commission members and the media. The Wal-Mart reps say their lobbying tour is nothing more than preparation for two upcoming and critical public hearings in Gilroy – a Planning Commission meeting Feb. 5 and a City Council meeting Feb. 17.
But their efforts are ongoing amid drawn-out and contentious grocery worker strikes in Southern California that many say will make their way up here, once labor contracts expire in September.
Grocery chains have stated they need to cut costs to brace against the impact of eight proposed Wal-Mart Supercenters in Northern California which will sell groceries at discount prices. Laborers say they’re not ready to make concessions on salaries or benefits.
If City Council approves the Wal-Mart Supercenter planned for the Pacheco Pass Center at U.S. 101 and Highway 152, it will be the first of its kind in Northern California. The Gilroy Supercenter, if approved, is projected to open the first quarter of 2005.
A Davis-based attorney, William D. Kopper, filed an eight-page environmental critique of the Wal-Mart Supercenter with Gilroy City Hall early this week. The document, written on behalf of three Gilroy citizens and a group called Citizens for Responsible Development, pokes holes in the city’s environmental review. It claims the negative impacts to traffic and the local economy have not been addressed adequately.
Kopper is calling for an economic impact study to be done within a revised environmental review. He quotes economic impact studies which claim Supercenters could result in $2.8 billion in lost wages and benefits for grocery industry employees.
Kopper also wants the city to limit Wal-Mart Supercenter to 155,000 square feet, a “reduced size” version spelled out in the environmental review. The city’s environmental review stated the smaller version would not significantly reduce the Supercenter’s impact. The existing site, is 125,600 square feet.
It’s unclear how far unions will take this fight if Gilroy’s retail-friendly City Council approves the project. Hill acknowledged the environmental criticisms against its Supercenter project may be just the calm before the storm.
Labor unions have long tried to make inroads with Wal-Mart workers, but to no avail.
The labor unions say it’s because Wal-Mart employees are threatened they will lose their jobs or the promise of promotion if they wave the union flag. Wal-Mart says it’s because their workers are happy and not all of them plan to hold lifelong careers with the company.
The Planning Commission meeting is Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Council chambers at City Hall.
