100,000 Sign on to Letter in Support of Walmart Warehouse Strikers
Warehouse Workers for Justice Media Advisory
Strikers and Supporters Will Deliver the Letter to Walmart on Friday Morning
What: Walmart warehouse strikers and their supporters will deliver the letter with over 100,000 signatures
When: Friday October 5th, 11:00 am
Where: Walmart Express store at 570 W. Monroe, Chicago
Over 100,000 supporters of striking workers at the Walmart warehouse have signed on to a letter demanding an end to the retaliation and improved conditions in Walmart’s distribution center. Strikers and supporters will deliver their concerns to store management at the west loop Walmart Express on Friday Oct. 5th at 11:00 am. “We had more than 600 people come to Elwood on Monday, shutting down Walmart’s warehouse for the day. Now, folks who couldn’t join the rally can have their voices heard by Walmart management with this letter”, said striker Mike Compton.
On Monday Oct. 1st, supporters of the strikers succeeded in shutting down Walmart’s largest distribution center in North America. Clergy, community and labor leaders blocked the road leading out of the warehouse to support workers on strike at the Walmart warehouse in Elwood, near Joliet. The rally brought Walmart’s distribution system into the public eye to protest unfair labor practices and other abuses in the nation’s largest inland port. Now supporters all over the country want Walmart to know they support improved working conditions in the company’s warehouses.
Yesterday, Walmart store associates in Los Angeles walked off the job to protest illegal retaliation.
Workers have been on strike at the Walmart warehouse since September 15, 2012. The unfair labor practice strike was triggered by management’s illegal retaliation against workers attempting to present the company their concerns about wage theft, unsafe conditions and discrimination. They are demanding an end to retaliation against workers who speak up about poor conditions.
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. The strikers are members of the Warehouse Worker Organizing Committee.
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