In the News Archive
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Higher standards for Joliet facility?
Monday, October 11th, 2010Joliet Herald News
Cindy Wojdyla Cain
CenterPoint North is receiving a financial incentive from the state, so the state should require fewer temporary workers and better-paying warehouse jobs at the development, Warehouse Workers for Justice leaders say.
“Our assertion is, if taxpayers are going to invest in job creation, we need to be able to hold companies accountable to create good jobs,” said WWJ coordinator Abraham Mwaura.
AREA Chicago: Bad Jobs in Goods Movement
Friday, October 1st, 2010AREA Chicago published a center-spread on WWJ and goods movement in Chicago. See it here:
A day in the life of a warehouse warrior
Monday, September 13th, 2010Working In These Times
by Kari Lydersen
It’s a stifling hot day in June, and Tory Moore, 37, is pounding the pavement outside a currency exchange in Bolingbrook, a Chicago suburb. Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words Warehouse Workers for Justice, sweating but full of energy, he paces back and forth while mopping his face with a yellow washcloth.
When he sees a likely warehouse worker, he goes up with a friendly greeting and starts asking questions. He also loves to tell his story – he was a temp for six years, even though he was working at the same warehouse – Del Monte Foods in Kankakee – the whole time.
Two part NPR story on the crisis in Will Co. warehouses
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
by Chip Mitchell
Part 1: Inland port spreads across Will County plains
Developers are connecting the nation’s railways to enormous state-of-the art warehouses to make shipping easier for big companies like Walmart. One of the most ambitious of these projects is in southwest suburban Will County. And it’s about to expand.
Part 2: Taxpayers subsidize low wage warehouse jobs
Developers are transforming a windswept plain southwest of Chicago into a gargantuan freight and distribution hub. The project will add to about 300 warehouses already built in Will County. This industry is getting government subsidies in the name of creating new jobs. But there are plenty of people who say the jobs should be better.
New York Times: A thriving industry build on low-compensated temp workers
Thursday, August 26th, 2010The New York Times
By Kari Lydersen
Tory Moore worked at the same packaged-food warehouse in Kankakee for six years, but he was denied a loan and apartment rentals after being told he did not have a real job.
Mr. Moore, 37, was a “perma-temp,” one of thousands of workers in the Chicago area’s massive warehouse complexes who are laid off and rehired every few months by temporary-staffing agencies.
He said he never received paid vacation days, holidays, sick days or affordable insurance. He was fired in December, he said, for rallying other workers to demand better conditions.
“I’m someone who loves to work hard,” he said, “but you want the company to make you feel appreciated.”