Catherwood LibraryILR School

At a New York City Council meeting on Thursday, the topic of debate was Wal-Mart, but the store did not show up. The company said that it would not attend the hearing because it felt that it was being singled out, citing other stores in the city like Target and Home Depot as comparable. The majority of those at the meeting felt that Wal-Mart should not be allowed into the city, with only a few, like a representative of the Building and Construction Trades Council speaking in favor of the company. The Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents construction unions, recently reached a deal with Wal-Mart to have union workers build and renovate its stores for the next five years. City Council members said that Wal-Mart's absence at the hearing made them more skeptical of allowing it into the city. When asked about Wal-Mart, Mayor Bloomberg compared keeping Wal-mart out of the city to the Soviet Union.