Warehouse Worker Resource Center

Improving working conditions in the warehouse industry in Southern California

Press Releases

Workers Call on Walmart to Stop Cloak and Dagger Tactics

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LOS ANGELES – Warehouse workers who move Walmart goods have filed charges against Walmart and its PR firm for illegally spying on workers and are calling on the retail giant to drop Mercury Public Affairs as a contracted lobbying firm.

Workers filed charges after learning last week that a senior associate for Mercury was caught lying about her identity and spying on low-wage warehouse workers.

“We are fighting for better jobs for warehouse workers in Southern California,” said Santos Castaneda, a warehouse worker who was interviewed by a Mercury Public Affairs senior associate posing as a student journalist. “Warehouse workers risk retaliation every time we speak to the media and to learn that the company was hiding behind a fake reporter makes me really mad.”

Walmart has paid tens of thousands of dollars to Mercury to lobby for an unpopular new store in LA’s Chinatown After the scandal was revealed last week, Walmart spokesperson Steve Restivo said in a statement:

“These actions were unacceptable, misleading and wrong. Our culture of integrity is a constant at Walmart and by not properly identifying herself, this individual’s behavior was contrary to our values and the way we do business. We insist that all our vendors conduct themselves in a way that is transparent and honest and we will reinforce that expectation to help ensure this type of activity is not repeated.”

According to its “Statement of Ethics,” Walmart’s guiding principles include “always act with integrity,” “lead with integrity,” “expect others to work with integrity” and “follow the law at all times.”

“If Walmart truly is concerned about integrity it will fire Mercury Public Affairs after learning its senior associate lied about her identity,” said Guadalupe Palma, a campaign director for Warehouse Workers United, an organization committed to improving warehousing jobs in Southern California. “We are asking that Walmart to drop this firm and deal honestly with workers and the people of Los Angeles.”

“We want Walmart to disclose why it sent a fake reporter, why she was taking notes and what she did with the information. More importantly we want to know how Walmart is dealing with its renegade contractors. No one has been held accountable in the Mexico bribery scandal, for the treatment of warehouse workers, and now with its PR firm.”

Just in the last few months several major developments call into question Walmart’s claim that it fosters a “culture of integrity”:

  • Walmart is currently embroiled in a massive bribery scandal in Mexico in which The New York Times uncovered millions of dollars of bribes associated with massive expansion throughout Mexico.
  • The National Employment Law Project released a detailed report this month about Walmart’s massive adverse effects on Latino warehouse workers in Southern California who labor moving Walmart goods.
  • Major pension funds have sued Walmart for its failed leadership and lack of transparency in the wake of the bribery scandal in Mexico.
  • The website gawker.com revealed a pattern of Walmart using PR firms to spy on activists and concerned community members and to report back to its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The charges were filed with the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board, which prohibits spying on workers. Workers are also requesting that the U.S. Department of Labor investigate whether Mercury and Walmart have properly disclosed their spending as required by the law.

LA Latina Leaders Reveal New Details about Walmart’s Negative Effects on the Local Economy

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LOS ANGELES — Major retailers like Walmart are driving down wages and workplace safety standards on a scale far greater than understood before, a report released today by the National Employment Law Project shows.

The explosion of “domestic outsourcing,” the aggressive practice of contracting warehousing, transportation and goods delivery to a complex hierarchy of contractors and subcontractors, has lowered the quality of jobs in Southern California and disproportionately impacted working Latinos here.

According to “Chain of Greed”: “Walmart sets the parameters for the working conditions in (warehouses)…But when things go wrong, it’s the contractors that are blamed, while Walmart skirts responsibility for its actions and accountability for its influence over those engaged in its massive supply chain.”

Hundreds of millions of tons of goods enter the United States every year through our nation’s busiest ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles. Containers are then trucked through the Los Angeles basin to the Inland Empire, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, where roughly 85,000 warehouse workers, mostly Latino, unpack and reload items onto trucks destined for retail outlets.

“Chain of Greed,” the report released by NELP, details how Walmart’s influence over the entire logistics and manufacturing industries has led to increasing reliance on temporary workers who are often paid minimum wage or less, which keeps labor costs artificially low and masks responsibility for these working conditions.

“In order to continue to win business, subcontractors must model their businesses like Walmart,” said Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. “That means consistently lowering standards, lowering wages and cutting corners even if it means dangerous working conditions. Workers bear the brunt of this unsustainable model.”

Every year retailers like Walmart require more for less from their contractors.

“Walmart figured out how to shift the burden off the retailer and move economic risks lower down the supply chain ultimately to a low-paid, mostly Latino workforce ,” said Guadalupe Palma, a campaign director for Warehouse Workers United, an organization committed to improving the quality of warehouse jobs. “Walmart is responsible for the illegal working conditions and low wages at the warehouses that move its goods. Changing this industry means creating thousands of good jobs and improving the quality of life in Southern California.”

For Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, the report’s conclusion that domestic outsourcing imposes an especially severe toll on Latino and immigrant workers in Southern California and around the U.S. is striking.

“Latinos and immigrants in this industry are facing extremely low wages and little regard for basic workplace safety standards. We see “domestic outsourcing” in many sectors like agriculture, janitorial and cleaning where people do hard work largely out of sight. Shedding light on poor labor conditions will lead to better, more humane lives for a huge part of our population.”

David Acosta, father of three young children, described his experience working inside Southern California warehouses.

“We worked long days, often 16 hours with no breaks, no time for lunch and no overtime pay. We knew it was wrong, but it seemed like there was no one to talk to to make it better. Things started to change when we stood together in the face of retaliation.”

The report calls for specific recommendations to create “greater transparency and accountability within these multi-layered hydra-like logistics chains” including better enforcement of existing laws and adding warehousing to current law that protects workers in subcontracted industries like as janitorial and agricultural work. It also reinforces Warehouse Workers United’s calls for Walmart to adopt a meaningful responsible contractor policy that would end abusive conditions in Walmart contracted warehouses.

Líderes Latinas de Los Ángeles revelan nuevos detalles sobre los efectos negativos de Walmart en la economía local

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LOS ANGELES – Los grandes minoristas como Walmart están bajando los salarios y las normas de seguridad laboral en una escala mucho mayor que la conocida anteriormente, reporta un informe publicado hoy por El Proyecto Nacional de Empleo.

La explosión de la “externalización domestica”, la práctica agresiva de contratación de prestación de almacenamiento, transportación y entrega de mercancías a una compleja jerarquía de contratistas y subcontratistas, ha bajado la calidad de los empleos en el sur de California y ha impactado desproporcionadamente a los latinos que trabajan aquí.

Según el informe “ Cadena de Codicia”: “Walmart establece los parámetros para las condiciones de trabajo en (bodegas) … Pero cuando las cosas no funcionan, son los contratistas que son culpados, mientras que Walmart se deslinda de la responsabilidad por sus acciones y la de su influencia sobre aquellos que forman parte en su masiva cadena de suministro. ”

Cientos de millones de toneladas de mercancía entran a los Estados Unidos cada año a través de los puertos más activos de nuestro país en Long Beach y Los Ángeles. Los contenedores son transportados luego a través de la cuenca de Los Ángeles hacia el Inland Empire, San Bernardino y Riverside, donde alrededor de 85.000 trabajadores de bodegas, en su mayoría latinos, descargan y cargan productos en camiones con destino a puntos de venta.

“Cadena de codicia”, el informe publicado por NELP, detalla cómo la influencia de Walmart en toda la logística y las industrias de fabricación ha dado lugar a una creciente dependencia de los trabajadores temporales que se les paga el salario mínimo o menos, lo que mantiene artificialmente bajos los costos de mano de obra, y enmascara la responsabilidad de estas condiciones de trabajo.

“A fin de continuar a aumentar sus negocios, los subcontratistas deben modelar sus negocios como Walmart”, dijo María Elena Durazo, secretaria-tesorera ejecutiva de la Federación Laboral del Condado de Los Ángeles. “Eso significa la reducción constante de los estándares, la reducción de los salarios y atajos, a pesar que esto conlleva a condiciones de trabajo peligrosas. Los trabajadores llevan la peor parte de este modelo insostenible”.

Cada año, tiendas como Walmart exigen más por menos de sus contratistas.

“Walmart encontró la manera de desviar el peso fuera del minorista y mover los riesgos económicos hacia abajo de la cadena de suministro y ultimadamente recargando el peso sobre todo la mano de obra latina”, dijo Guadalupe Palma, directora de Trabajadores De Bodegas Unidos, una organización comprometida a mejorar la calidad de los trabajos de bodegas. “Walmart es responsable de las condiciones ilegales de trabajo y los bajos salarios en las bodegas que mueven sus bienes. El cambio de esta industria significa la creación de miles de buenos empleos y mejorar la calidad de vida en el sur de California. ”

Para Angélica Salas, directora ejecutiva de la Coalición Pro-Derechos Humanos de los Inmigrantes, la conclusión del informe de que la externalización domestica impone un peaje especialmente grave en los trabajadores latinos en el sur de California y en todo los EE.UU. es sorprendente.

“Los latinos en esta industria se enfrentan a salarios muy bajos y poco respeto por las normas básicas de seguridad en el trabajo. Vemos “externalización domestica” en muchos sectores como la agricultura y la limpieza, donde la gente hace el trabajo duro en gran medida fuera de la vista. Arrojar luz sobre las malas condiciones de trabajo conducirá a mejores, vidas más humanas para una gran parte de nuestra población”.

David Acosta, padre de tres hijos, describió su experiencia de trabajo en las bodegas del sur de California.

“Hemos trabajado largas jornadas, a menudo 16 horas sin interrupciones, no hay tiempo para el almuerzo y no pagan horas extras. Sabíamos que estaba mal, pero parecía que no había nadie con quien hablar para mejorarlo. Las cosas empezaron a cambiar cuando permanecimos unidos ante las represalias. ”

El informe hace un llamado por las recomendaciones específicas para crear “una mayor transparencia y rendición de cuentas dentro de esta cadena de logísticas de varias capas”, incluyendo una mejor aplicación de las leyes vigentes y la adición de bodegas a la legislación actual que protege a los trabajadores subcontratados en la industria tales como el trabajo de limpieza y agrícola. También refuerza el llamado de Trabajadores de Bodegas Unidos que piden a Walmart que adopte una póliza significativa de contratista responsable que ponga fin a las condiciones abusivas en las bodegas contratadas por Walmart.

Workers Stay in Jobs as Ordered by Court

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Mira Loma, Calif.- After working in scorching heat with no breaks for hours on end, roughly 100 workers at a Walmart contracted warehouse took legal action against Schneider Logistics after noticing wages were being stolen from their paychecks.

The action prompted a notice to terminate the workers en masse, a discharge that was scheduled to take effect on February 24th, and a series of legal battles in which a California District Court barred the Walmart contractor from firing the workers.

After weeks of legal wrangling and uncertainty as to whether the Walmart agent would comply with the court’s ruling, Schneider Logistics agreed to comply with the Court’s order and keep the workers on a full-time basis, converting them to hourly pay (throwing out the legally problematic piece rate system that was at the core of the workers’ wage theft complaints) and eligibility for benefits, marking a huge victory that will have national implications for workers’ rights.

However, the fight is far from over. Warehouse Workers and officials from Warehouse Workers United will be available Saturday, Feb. 25th to discuss the impact of the landmark ruling and their next steps toward ensuring Walmart and other big-box retailers treat their employees with dignity and respect.

Breaking News: Warehouse Workers Win Support From Federal Court on Retaliation

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Mira Loma, Calif. – Today, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an unprecedented order against Walmart contractors Schneider Logistics and Rogers-Premier Unloading Services for threatening to discharge workers en masse in retaliation for the workers’ efforts to vindicate their rights in a federal class action lawsuit. The workers won a federal restraining order prohibiting Schneider from implementing the announced mass discharge, which had been scheduled to take effect on February 24th.

“We are very encouraged that the federal judge told Schneider they couldn’t kick us to the curb for trying to get the wages that we are owed,” said Jose Tejeda, a warehouse worker. “Hopefully this is the beginning of changing this system Walmart has created of warehouse contractors who abuse workers.”

In October 2011, workers jointly employed by Schneider and Rogers Premier at the Walmart-dedicated facility filed suit in Federal court to recover years of stolen wages. Workers who load and unload containers of Walmart goods, many of whom have worked at these warehouses for years, had been paid less than legal minimums, had not been paid overtime, were not paid for lunch breaks, and were forced to work hours for which they were not paid. The workers were also cooperating with the investigation of the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, which raided these Walmart-contracted warehouses last October and issued citations for more than $1 million in recordkeeping violations alone. Subsequent to the filing of the lawsuit, Rogers announced the workers would be terminated February 24, 2012. At the same time, as explained by sworn declarations filed by the Court, Schneider gathered a group of warehouse workers together and threatened to “destroy” any warehouse worker who supported efforts to vindicate their rights.

In its ruling, the Court agreed with the workers’ view that Schneider and Rogers Premier initiated this mass discharge in retaliation for the workers’ exercise of their rights and issued an order requiring Schneider to revoke the mass terminations.

The workers, their legal representatives and a representative from Warehouse Workers United will participate in a telephonic press briefing on Thursday, February 2nd to report what this court order means for their efforts, what it means for Walmart and the logistics industry and the next steps they will be taking in order to stand up for warehouse workers’ rights.

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