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Retail, Walmart

Walmart Store Workers Go On Strike in Los Angeles

Oct 04, 2012

Today, brave Walmart store workers from the Pico Rivera, Los Angeles-area went on strike against Walmart. Nearly 100 workers are on strike to protest Walmart’s unlawful retaliation against Walmart workers who have been speaking out for change.

Over the last year, Walmart workers have been organizing through the Associate-led Organization United for Respect at Walmart. Rather than meeting with these workers to discuss their concerns about staffing levels, benefits, wages, above-all-else respect in the workplace, their calls for change have fallen on deaf ears. Instead of being responsive, Walmart has met these calls with attempts to silence Walmart workers from speaking out. The company has unlawfully retaliated against workers who have spoken out through the organization through such unlawful acts as unfair disciplinary action, cutting back hours and even termination.

But workers have had enough. You can stand with these brave workers by signing a letter to show your support for their efforts to stand up to the world’s largest retailer. Sign below, or by clicking here.

Check out their rally right here:

Retail, Walmart

Walmart Calls Out the Riot Police on Peaceful Protest for Walmart Workers

Oct 03, 2012

Photo Credit: Dawn Littman

This week, 38 Walmart warehouse workers and supporters from faith and community groups rallied in front of an Elwood, Illinois Walmart distribution center to protest the horrendous working conditions workers there endure.  The workers have been on strike since mid-September.

Much like the Mira Loma workers who protested a couple weeks ago, the subcontracted workers spoke out this week, against insufferable heat, exposure to chemicals and unhealthy air, unstable working hours which sometimes require them to work up to 19 hours a day, and heavy lifting up to 250 pounds without any support or equipment.  Despite all of these offenses, these warehouse workers’ wages aren’t enough to even make ends meet.

Source: Buzzfeed

But instead of facing the workers, or attempting any sort of resolution, Walmart called riot police on the peaceful gathering.  The police streamed into the area in full riot gear, as though they were preparing to do battle with a vicious, angry mob rather than a peaceful group of spiritual leaders and community supporters. With batons at the ready, the militarized forces stood inches from each placid protester as they sat down in the road, singing songs and chanting for solidarity and justice.

However ludicrous Walmart’s reaction to the rally was, workers and supporters together succeeded in drawing attention to the unfair treatment of Walmart’s subcontracted warehouse workers, like their brothers in sisters did in southern California. We are seeing more and more groups come together to support one another in the fight for fair treatment and workers rights, as demonstrated by the support of the warehouse workers by the Chicago Teacher’s Union, which of course recently were on strike as well.

To see video of the protest, including the arrival of the riot police, click here.

Community Partnerships, Corporate Responsibility, Packing and Processing, Retail, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, Walmart, Workplace Safety & Health

Warehouse Workers’ 6-Day Pilgrimage Culminates in L.A. City Hall Rally

Sep 19, 2012

Yesterday, the 6-day long journey taken by striking Walmart warehouse workers, in protest of working conditions, came to a close as they reached their 50 mile destination in Los Angeles.  The trek went out with a bang, as the more than 30 workers were joined by hundreds of supporters in front of L.A. City Hall.

At the rally, warehouse workers, exhausted from the journey and the 103-degree heat, took the opportunity to express to the crowd that, although the pilgrimage was tiring and hard to endure, it was nothing compared to the conditions they are forced to work in at the Inland Empire warehouse, a subcontractor of Walmart.

These warehouse workers are not protected by a union, and, by taking a stand to highlight the abuses they have endured, they have risked everything.  But the risks are worth it to these workers, who work in 120-degree warehouses with no fans, which often results in vomiting and nosebleeds. Not only is the heat unbearable, but they are no given clean water or regular breaks, and the equipment they use is unsafe. Does Walmart, who controls the working conditions of the sub-contracters, think that putting workers in terribly unsafe environments and then not paying them enough to make a decent living, is okay?

It simply isn’t.  

The strike has brought well-deserved attention to the unacceptable conditions at Walmart warehouses, and drawn many supporters to the workers’ cause.  Warehouse Workers United, health professional volunteers, and countless supporters have helped in the effort, and speakers at the rally on Tuesday included Rep. Judy Chu, California Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, City Councilman Ed Reyes, National Farmworkers Association co-founder Dolores Huerta, California Secretary of Labor Marty Morgenstern, and LA County Federation of Labor secretary-treasurer Elena Durazo.

Despite widespread community support for workers, Walmart and its sub-contractors haven’t offered to meet about improving the situation at all.  In fact, a Walmart spokesman has claimed that Walmart officials regularly tour the locations of their subcontractors, and the conditions are “ambient.”

Despite the lies and blatant denial of those responsible, workers have taken a stand and a national spotlight is shining on the unjust treatment they receive.  Once they return home, the warehouse workers plan to continue to picket outside the facility in Mira Loma where they work, in the hopes that even more workers will take a stand to decrease the amount of worker injuries due to unsafe working conditions, to fight for respect, and to force corporations like Walmart to be responsible.

For more information on the warehouse workers’ pilgrimage, and to see great photos from their journey and the rally, click here.