Archive for October 2012

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Walmart warehouse workers declare victory

Sunday, October 7th, 2012

Newstips
Curtis Black

Striking warehouse workers at Walmart’s distribution center near Joliet have won an agreement for an end to retaliation against employees protesting working conditions, and are returning to work with full pay for the three weeks they were out, Warehouse Workers for Justice reports.

“We forced the company to respect our rights,” said striker Ted Ledwa.  “We showed that when workers are united, we can stand up to the biggest corporations in the world and win.”

Members of the Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee walked out September 15 to protest the firing by the Roadlink employment agency of a plaintiff in a new lawsuit  – the sixth filed against Walmart subcontrators in Elwood, Illinois – charging wage theft.  They won widespread support.

Last Monday, strikers and their supporters shut down the Elwood warehouse – Walmart’s largest distribution center on the continent – with hundreds rallying as clergy and community and labor leaders blocked the road.  On Friday, strikers delivered a letter demanding an end to retaliation and improvement of conditions signed by 100,000 supporters to the Walmart store in Presidential Towers.

Read more here …

Walmart Warehouse Strikers to Return to Work with Full Back Pay

Saturday, October 6th, 2012

Warehouse Workers for Justice Press Release

In an historic victory, all striking Roadlink workers at Walmart’s Elwood warehouse have won their principal demand for an end to illegal retaliation against workers protesting poor conditions.  They will return to work with their full pay while they were out on strike.   Workers will return to work and continue the fight for safe working conditions, fair pay for all hours worked and an end to discrimination.

During the 21 day strike, strikers have received a tremendous outpouring of support.  On Oct. 1st strikers and their supporters succeeded in shutting down Walmart’s largest distribution center in North America, while 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.   On Oct. 5th, Walmart received a letter from over 100,000 supporters of striking workers at the Walmart warehouse demanding Walmart take responsibility for what is happening in their warehouse.

Striking Roadlink worker Ted Ledwa said, “With this victory, we forced the company to respect our rights.  We showed that when workers are united we can stand up to the biggest corporations in the world and win”.

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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100,000 Sign on to Letter in Support of Walmart Warehouse Strikers

Friday, October 5th, 2012

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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Walmart Warehouse Workers Fight for the Future of Work

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Truthout and Vocalo
Yana Kunichoff and Jesse Menendez

Workers responsible for moving an estimated $1 trillion worth of goods a year through the global economy are paid low wages, often denied breaks and basic protective gear, and are employed primarily through temp agencies.

Outside the largest Walmart distribution center in the country, moving the products of the world’s largest private employer, a group of striking workers are asking for small changes they say will make an immeasurable difference to their working conditions. Warehouse workers in Elwood, Illinois, have been on strike for more than two weeks, calling for the subcontractors that employ them on behalf of Walmart to provide shin pads and dust masks – and to listen to their grievances around working conditions.

Early this week, workers forced the warehouse to close early after more than 200 people rallied around the suburban distribution center. A planned civil disobedience action took a surprising turn for many of the assembled protesters when riot police equipped with a sound cannon came to arrest the 17 clergy and warehouse workers blocking a road near the distribution center.

Read more here …

Wal-Mart warehouse strike heats up

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Salon
Natasha Lennard

The giant retailer had to shut down a distribution facility

On Monday, 600-plus people marched to Wal-Mart’s vast distribution warehouse in Elwood, Ill., to show support for 30 non-union workers who have been on strike since mid-September. Riot police were called in and arrested 17 people as a group of marchers sat down to block the road to the warehouse. However, in successfully shutting down the facility for the day, strikers and their supporters estimate their protest Monday cost the company several million dollars.

The civil disobedience also brought attention to the strike, which has continued for weeks with no media fanfare. Workers cite unsafe conditions and low wages as fueling their industrial action, along with complaints about long shifts with no breaks and sexual harassment. Micah Uetricht reported for Labor Notes on Monday’s march, the strike and the reasons underpinning it:

At the rally—surely the largest in Elwood history—workers told of backbreaking work for little pay, temperatures that oscillate between sweltering heat and bitter cold, management retaliation, and gender discrimination.

Yolanda Dickerson, who had worked in a warehouse for two years, says she “was sexually harassed on a regular basis,” recounting an incident of being locked in a trailer by male co-workers. After Dickerson reported the incident, she says management did nothing. WWJ [Warehouse Workers for Justice] says such reports are common.

Read more here …