Striking Warehouse Workers Return to Work

http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/striking-warehouse-workers-return-to-work/

Posted on September 28th, 2012



ONTARIO, Calif. - Workers at a Southern California
warehouse that moves Walmart merchandise returned to
work after a 15-day strike that included a six-day,
50-mile pilgrimage for safe jobs.

By midnight Friday morning, workers from all three
shifts at the 24-hour facility returned to work after
winning safety improvements on the job and drawing a
response from Walmart about poor working conditions in
its contracted warehouses.

"We no longer feel like we are working in the shadows,"
said Carlos Martinez, a warehouse worker who went on
strike and participated in the 50-mile WalMarch from
the warehouses in the Inland Empire to Downtown Los
Angeles. "We've never had this much attention on our
working conditions and I have never felt this much
support. I feel ecstatic going back to work and proud
that we have all stood together as a team."

Though Walmart initially dismissed workers concerns
about conditions on the job as "unfounded," by the end
of the 6-day march, Walmart spokesperson Dan Fogelman
told the Huffington Post it "'is developing a protocol
of random inspections by third-party organizations and
"conducting contract reviews with our service providers
with an eye towards implementing specific health and
safety requirements.'"

During the course of the two-week action the workers,
who are temporary workers without the protection of a
union, gained national attention. More than 120,000
supporters joined warehouse workers in calling on
Walmart to meet with warehouse workers to hear
firsthand about their experiences inside the warehouse.

Warehouse workers in Illinois walked off the job to
protest retaliation at a Walmart distribution center in
Elwood, Illinois and Walmart warehouse workers in Korea
and Chile recorded messages of support for the Southern
California strikers.

After many appeals to Walmart and its contractors to
end retaliation and fix poor working conditions
including filing a detailed complaint with the
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health,
a group of warehouse workers went on strike Sept. 12 to
protest unfair labor practices they have faced on the
job and call for an end to retaliation and unfair labor
practices committed by their employers, NFI and
Warestaff.

Workers and their supporters are calling on Walmart to
take responsibility for working conditions in the
Inland Empire warehouses it relies on. As the largest
retailer in the world, Walmart effectively dictates the
standards of operation in the logistics and
distribution industry, which impacts the lives of
85,000 warehouse workers in Southern California who
every day unload merchandise from shipping containers
that enter through the ports of Los Angeles and Long
Beach and load it onto trucks destined for retail
stores like Walmart.



Workers on strike at Walmart warehouse in Elwood, IL

http://www.warehouseworker.org/elwoodstrike.html

Workers of Walmart's contractor Roadlink have been on
strike to protest unfair labor practices since
September 15th concerning illegal retaliation against a
group of workers who tried to bring their concerns to
management. Several workers were fired on the spot
including a named plaintiff in a wage theft lawsuit
against the company filed two days before.

On Thursday September 13, workers for Walmart's
contractor Roadlink Workforce Solutions filed a lawsuit
for non-payment for all hours worked, paying less than
the minimum wage and non-payment of overtime worked.
Shortly thereafter, intimidation and retaliations
against workers escalated.

This comes just days after warehouse workers in
Southern California walked off the job
[http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/] to protest
their employers, NFI and Warestaff, for retaliation.
The California workers also move Walmart goods.

The Walmart warehouse in Elwood, IL is a key
distribution center for the retail giant. And since
Walmart is the nation's largest importer of goods, they
set the standard for goods distribution. At the Walmart
warehouse the vast majority of workers are employed by
temporary staffing agencies, rarely earn a living wage
or have benefits. In the last few years no less than
six lawsuits have been filed against Walmart
contractors for wage theft.

No one should come to work and endure extreme
temperatures, inhale dust and chemical residue, and
lift thousands of boxes weighing up to 250lbs with no
support. Workers never know how long the work day will
be- sometimes its two hours, sometimes its 16 hours.
Injuries are common, as is discrimination against women
and illegal retaliation against workers who speak up
for better treatment.

Walmart has been harshly criticized for the legal
violations of its contractors and towards its store
associates. In California, contractors at warehouses
serving Walmart were fined hundreds of thousands of
dollars for violations of workers' rights and a federal
judge issued several orders and injunctions in favor of
the workers, including an injunction stop the mass
firing of workers who had filed the lawsuit. In
Illinois, a total of six lawsuits have been filed
against contractors operating in the Walmart warehouse
for labor violations.

Workers and their allies are calling on Walmart to
uphold their "Standards for Suppliers" policy and
respond to the workers' demands that:

* Workers receive a living wage and are paid for all
hours worked in accordance with the law;

* Workers have consistent, regular work schedules in
order to care for their families;

* Workers have a safe workplace with better training
and safety equipment;

* There is an immediate end to all intimidation and
illegal retaliation against workers for exercising
their rights.

Chicago is one of the most important transportation and
distribution hubs in the world

* The only location in the hemisphere where all six
Class I railroads meet, Chicago transports half the
nation's rail freight.

* Seven interstate highways crisscross the Chicago
region. Only two states have more interstate highway
miles than Illinois. Chicago is a two-day truck haul
from 219 million people, or 42% of the continent.

* Chicago is now the third-largest container port in
the world, after Hong Kong and Singapore and the
largest inland port in the hemisphere.

* As a result, almost a trillion dollars' worth of
goods passes through the Chicago region every year.

And yet workers see a very different picture

* The majority of warehouse workers are employed by
temporary staffing agencies that pay poverty wages.

* 25% depend on government assistance to take care of
their families and 37% work more than one job. * 20%
report being injured on the job and 40% report being
discriminated against.

* Only 4% of temp workers have health insurance and
only 5% have paid sick days.

For more information, visit

www.warehouseworker.org/badjobs.

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