CHICAGO-In a move that coincides with a pending City Council decision on a new store in the Pullman neighborhood, Walmart has said it wants to build “several dozen” stores in the city, and promises to bring in about 12,000 jobs and $500 million in taxes with those new locations. On Wednesday, the council will consider a new 150,000-square foot Walmart in a new Pullman Park mixed-use development on the former Ryerson Inc. steel plant on the Far South Side.

Union strength has done well to keep Walmart from taking much of a hold in the city, with claims that the giant retailer does not pay its workers enough. However, as the city has faced the loss of thousands of jobs, politicians are warming to companies that can promise to bring in jobs and tax dollars.

Ald. Anthony Beale of the Ninth Ward, which includes the Pullman neighborhood, has championed the new store. “Our city is facing a number of challenges, but most of all, we need good jobs,” he said in a statement.

Walmart has promised to hire more than 10,000 associates and 2,000 unionized construction workers if it can build new stores in the city. The retailer also said its starting wages are fully competitive with most union and non-union retailers.

A Walmart spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that shopper data shows that city residents are spending millions of dollars at the company’s suburban stores. “It’s clear that Chicagoans want Walmart,” he says.

The company also plans to commit $20 million to city charities in the next five years. The spokesman says these initiatives will continue even if the Pullman store is not approved.