Archive for September 2012
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Chicago Strike Fever Spreads: Walmart Warehouse Workers STRIKE to Protest Illegal Retaliation
Saturday, September 15th, 2012Warehouse Workers for Justice Press Release
September 15, 2012
Contact: Leah Fried, Warehouse Workers for Justice, leah@warehouseworker.org
Workers at Walmart’s largest distribution center went on strike today to protest illegal retaliation and other labor abuses.
This comes just days after workers at the California warehouse that supplies Walmart stores walked off the job to protest illegal retaliation and poor working conditions.
On Thursday September 13, workers for Walmart contractor Roadlink Workforce Solutions filed a lawsuit for non-payment for all hours worked, paying less than the minimum wage and non-payment of overtime worked. Shortly thereafter, intimidation and retaliations against workers escalated. Workers walked off the job on Saturday, September 15 in protest.
“We are on strike to protest violations of our rights. We are tired of retaliation and threats every time we speak up about unsafe working conditions and other abuses”, said Eric Skoglund, a striking warehouse worker.
Walmart has been harshly criticized for the legal violations of its contractors and towards its store associates. In California, contractors at warehouses serving Walmart were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for violations of workers’ rights and a federal judge issued several orders and injunctions in favor of the workers, including an injunction stop the mass firing of workers who had filed the lawsuit. In Illinois, a total of six lawsuits have been filed against contractors operating in the Walmart warehouse for labor violations.
Warehouse workers labor under extreme temperatures lifting thousands of boxes that can weigh up to 250lbs each. Workplace injuries are common; workers rarely earn a living wage or have any benefits. Warehouse Workers for Justice is an Illinois worker center dedicated to fighting for quality jobs in the distribution industry that can sustain families and communities.
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Tough to pin down who’s responsible for warehouse workers
Friday, September 14th, 2012Chicago Sun-Times/Joliet Herald-News
While warehouse worker complaints have been simmering in Will County for the past three years, they’re boiling over in Southern California.
The fact that two warehouse workers’ rights groups have sprung up 2,000 miles apart, indicates something is wrong in this industry.
Warehouse Workers for Justice came to Will County in the summer of 2009 to help workers who complained of not being paid for hours worked and who said they were becoming permanent temporary workers who never had access to job security or benefits.
Meanwhile, Warehouse Workers United, which also was founded in 2009, was operating in a similar capacity in Southern California where the “Inland Empire” shipping hub employed thousands of warehouse workers, too.
Last week, three dozen workers walked off the job at the Walmart warehouse in Mira Loma, Calif., to protest unfair labor practices. Starting Thursday, the striking workers and others affiliated with Warehouse Workers United started a five-day, 50-mile “WalMarch” from Riverside to downtown Los Angeles to publicize the problems warehouse workers are facing.
One of the biggest problems in the industry seems to be the use of third-party logistics partners. In California, the Walmart warehouse workers who are on strike are employed by two subcontractors: NFI Industries and Warestaff, a temp agency.
Group files lawsuit on behalf of warehouse workers
Thursday, September 13th, 2012Southtown Star
Cindy Cain
A lawsuit that claims employees at the Walmart warehouse in Elwood are not receiving the pay they earned was filed Thursday in federal court in Chicago.
The complaint against Roadlink Workforce Solutions is the sixth such lawsuit filed against companies Walmart contracts with to staff or run its warehouse.
Joliet-based Warehouse Workers for Justice assisted the employees in their legal action as part of its campaign to improve working conditions in area warehouses.
Chris Williams, a Warehouse Workers for Justice attorney, said the Chicago lawsuit alleges employees are not being paid wages “they are promised, entitled to by law and that they have earned” at the Elwood warehouse.
The workers are not being paid overtime and, in some cases, they are earning less than minimum wage, he added.
“I worked for Roadlink Workforce Solutions in the Walmart warehouse,” plaintiff Vincent Hoffmann said in a press release. “They had us working 10 or more hours a day lifting heavy boxes, but then didn’t pay me the overtime that I had worked so hard for. It’s hard enough trying to make ends meet and then they cheat us out of what we earned.”
Sixth Wage Theft Lawsuit to Be Filed Against Walmart Contractor at their Elwood, IL Warehouse
Thursday, September 13th, 2012Warehouse Workers for Justice Press Release
September 13, 2012
Also California Warehouse Workers Walk off the Job
Media Contacts: Leah Fried, leah@warehouseworker.org
When: Thursday, September 13th, 2012 at noon.
Where: Walmart Express Store 570 W. Monroe Chicago IL 60661
Who: Warehouse Workers for Justice, Plaintiff and Attorney on the lawsuit
What: On Thursday, September 13th a lawsuit will be filed against Walmart contractor Roadlink for wage theft.
“This lawsuit is just another in a long line of complaints about the unlawful practices inside the Walmart warehouse in Elwood, Illinois. In this case, workers are not being paid wages that they are promised, entitled to by law and that they have earned. They are not being paid overtime when they work overtime, in some instances they are paid less than minimum wage” said Chris Williams, attorney for the plaintiff.
“I worked for Roadlink Workforce Solutions in the Walmart warehouse. They had us working 10 or more hours a day lifting heavy boxes, but then didn’t pay me the overtime that I had worked so hard for. It’s hard enough trying to make ends meet and then they cheat us out of what we earned,” said plaintiff Vincent Hoffmann.
This is the latest example of Walmart engaging subcontracted staffing agencies that violate workers’ rights. Since 2009, there have been five other lawsuits against Walmart contractors in Elwood, IL for wage theft and other abuses. As workers in Chicago file this federal lawsuit, a group of workers in Southern California are walking off their warehouse jobs to protest retaliation and poor working conditions.
Walmart has been harshly criticized for the legal violations of its contractors and towards its store associates. In California, contractors at warehouses serving Walmart were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for violations of workers’ rights and a federal judge issued several orders and injunctions in favor of the workers, including an injunction stop the mass firing of workers who had filed the lawsuit.
Warehouse workers labor under extreme temperatures lifting thousands of boxes that can weigh up to 250lbs each. Workplace injuries are common; workers rarely earn a living wage or have any benefits. Warehouse Workers for Justice is an Illinois worker center dedicated to fighting for quality jobs in the distribution industry that can sustain families and communities.