Sixth Wage Theft Lawsuit to Be Filed Against Walmart Contractor at their Elwood, IL Warehouse
Warehouse 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.