Wal-Mart Warehouse Workers Move Ahead in Fight for
Justice
By David Moberg
In These Times
February 3, 2012
http://www.inthesetimes.org/working/entry/12672/wal-mart_warehouse_workers_move_ahead_in_fight_for_justice/

Warehouse workers from Wal-Mart distribution centers in
metropolitan Chicago and southern California took two
big steps this week toward enforcing laws on working
conditions and wages, fighting retaliatory firings, and
ultimately forcing Wal-Mart to live up to its
responsibilities as an employer.

Working through Warehouse Workers for Justice, workers
at the Elwood, Il, distibution center-reputedly Wal-
Mart's largest with 3 million square feet of space-filed
suit against Eclipse Advantage and Schneider Logistics
for firing roughly 65 workers on December 29. In
November, some of these workers had sued the two
companies for violating state and federal wage and hour
laws, such as not paying a minimum wage or premium pay
for overtime in many cases.

The new amendment to that suit filed on February 1
claims that Schneider and Eclipse as "joint employers"
failed to give the required 60-day notice of a mass
layoff required by the federal WARN Act.

Although Wal-Mart owns the building, according to WWJ
organizer Mark Meinster, Schneider contracts to operate
the warehouse and sub-contracts with staffing agencies
like Eclipse to provide part of the workforce, and
Eclipse or other firms may further subcontract for
supply of labor. Beyond trying to maximize its
flexibility, "it's a shell game to avoid
responsibility," Meinster says.

Previous lawsuits aided by WWJ at the Elwood plant
targeted the immediate employer, such as Eclipse, but
the current legal action insists that Schneider exerted
direct and indirect management of Eclipse workers, who
at times worked side by side with employees hired
directly by Schneider.

Attorney Chris Williams anticipates that the legal
discovery process will provide hard evidence of what
Meinster asserts--that Wal-Mart managers are also
present on the site and are involved in or oversee
mangement of the multi-tiered workforce. Ultimately
Williams anticipates adding Wal-Mart as a defendent,
opening the door to holding Wal-Mart responsible.

"Today we are saying that Wal-Mart has to take
responsibility for labor in its supply chain," Meinster
said, as WWJ filed its new claim under WARN. "Wal-Mart
benefits from these workers' labor, and it's Wal-mart
that can ultimately fix the problem and pay these
workers what they're owed."

On the same day that the Chicago-area workers took
action, federal district court judge Christina Snyder
announced a ruling in a similar case in California that
strengthens warehouse workers' cause. Snyder issued an
injunction prohibiting Schneider Logistics and three
staffing sub-contractors from firing workers as planned
later this month in what the workers and their
organization, Warehouse Workers United, claim is
retaliation.

In October, shortly after the state Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement found massive recordkeeping
violations at Wal-Mart's Mira Loma warehouse, workers
filed a class action suit for injunctive relief and
damages. Then, following a meeting in which witnessess
said a supervisor told workers they would be "destroyed"
if they supported the suit, one of the subcontractors
announced it was ending its contract and would lay off
all its workforce.

The judge's injunction, which treated the workers'
testimony as credible, laid out reasons why she thought
the  plaintiff workers would prevail in court with their
arguments that they worked for joint employers, that
they were fired in retaliation for their actions on
workplace violations, and that they suffered risk of
irreparable harm if dismissed.

"This decision is a great victory for workers," said WWU
organizer Guadalupe Palma. "They will retain their jobs.
But the problem is the industry itself. This is just a
first step."

The other steps will take continued nerve and
solidarity. "The moment anyone puts his hand up to
complain," WWU attorney Janet Herold said, "they're
fired or disciplined." But Daniel Lopez, a warehouse
worker for Wal-Mart in Mira Loma, Calif., has a strong
moral motive for acting. "If something is wrong, it's
not right to stay quiet."

It's a sentiment echoed in Elwood. Ill, by Terrance
Smith: "There's such a thing as justice, and we're
seeking it."

___________________________________________

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