Archive for November 2012
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Walmart Workers Fighting Back
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012TriStates Public Radio
Bill Knight
As the world’s largest retailer last month filled aisles with Halloween candy and cheap costumes, workers from coast to coast conducted an effective “trick ‘r treat” job action, and now others are taking the giant retailer to court.
Walmart workers protested low wages, slashed hours and management retaliation last month with a Los Angeles work stoppage that spread to more than a dozen cities, and Illinois employees who a ran a huge warehouse near Joliet shut down the facility before returning to work with back pay and a pledge for no retaliation. The Elwood, Ill., workers belong to the Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee, which accuses the giant retailer of retaliating against outspoken employees and with wage theft, meaning paying less than legal wages for work actually performed.
Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit, Twanda Burkes et al. vs. Walmart Stores Inc., filed Oct. 29 in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses the chain and two staffing agencies of requiring temporary workers to show up early, stay late, and work through lunch there.
Media Release: Walmart Warehouse Workers in Elwood, IL Demand an End To Illegal Retaliation
Wednesday, November 14th, 2012WWJ Media Release
Unfair Labor Practice Charges Are Filed with the National Labor Relations Board
Wednesday November 14, 2012, warehouse workers filed charges of unfair labor practices against four employers operating Walmart’s largest distribution center located in Elwood, IL.
Schneider Logistics, Roadlink Workforce Solutions, Select Remedy and Skyward Employment Service are all charged with violating workers rights under the law. Illegal threats, intimidation and discipline against workers organizing for improved conditions are the bases for the unfair labor practice charges filed today.
“We work hard and deserve to be paid fairly, have a safe workplace and be treated with dignity as human beings. If Walmart thinks we will be silenced by this illegal retaliation, they are wrong” said Walmart warehouse worker Phil Bailey.
In Mira Loma, CA today dozens of warehouse workers walked off the job at a Walmart-contracted warehouse Wednesday morning to call for an end to continued retaliation against workers advocating for fair treatment and safe conditions.
Workers at the Walmart warehouse in Elwood, IL went on strike for three weeks this fall to protest unfair labor practices committed by Roadlink Workforce Solutions. They won their three week strike on October 6th when Roadlink rescinded all retaliation and paid the strikers for all the days they were on strike. The unfair labor practice strike was triggered by management’s discipline 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 organize to end the poor conditions.
Warehouse workers labor under extreme temperatures, lifting thousands of boxes that can weigh up to 250 lbs 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.
When Walmart Workers Strike: What You Need to Know and What Happens Next
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012The Nation
Josh Eidelson
Thursday, Walmart warehouse workers are headed back to the picket line. At 8 am PST, twenty-some workers in Mira Loma, California, plan to launch a one-day walkout that could spread to more workers, including retail employees in Walmart stores. Thursday’s strike will be the latest in an unprecedented wave of work stoppages throughout the retail giant’s US supply chain. It follows strikes by seafood workers in June, by warehouse workers in September, and by 160 retail workers in twelve states last month. It comes a week before Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza that workers have pledged—barring concessions from the company—will bring their biggest disruptions yet.
“Hopefully it will make a dent in their production…” said Raymond Castillo, “and it gets their attention, that we’re not playing around.” Castillo and other Mira Loma workers struck in September, and voted Sunday to do it again on Thursday. According to Castillo, workers started organizing because of unsafe and unsanitary conditions: crooked ramps caused serious injuries; workers’ drinking water came from a hose. The organizing brought retaliation, which inspired a strike, which drew more punishment. “Since we’ve all been retaliated against,” said Castillo, “it was a pretty easy decision for all of us to go back on strike.”