Wal-Mart opened its first store within Chicago's city limits on the West Side Wednesday and, thanks to its effort to defeat the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance, can pay its workers less than a living wage. 

And thanks to a new corporate benefit policy, the cost of health care coverage will be passed onto the worker (click here to read the Washington Post story).

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, some employees at the new store make $8.05 an hour--almost two dollars less than what they would earn under the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance.  The Living Wage Ordinance would have required stores over 90,000 square feet (the new Wal-Mart is a whopping 142,000 square feet) and sales of $1 billion to pay their employees $10 an hour and $3 an hour in benefits.

The ordinance passed the City Council in July by a substantial 35-14 margin.  But Mayor Daley, backed by large corporations, vetoed the measure in September and convinced three aldermen--Ald. Cardenas, Ald. Coleman, and Ald. Solis--to change their votes to support the Mayor's veto.

As a result, workers at the new Wal-Mart earn less than what economists consider a "living wage" and do not receive adequate health care benefits.

The Sun-Times also reported on Wednesday that the world's largest private employer, Wal-Mart, redesigned its health care plan for new employees to shift the cost of care onto the workers.  Wal-Mart employees will now experience lower premiums but will bear the burden of a skyrocketing annual deductible.  While many employees might be able to afford being in the plan, whether they can afford to receive medical treatment remains to be seen. (Click here to read the story)