What’s a worker center? That’s a question I get a lot. Put simply, when workers are organized, the workplace is safer. A worker center can help workers in a particular industry or geography find their power through collective action and fighting for their rights.

In California, we have large sectors that have virtually no union representation. The lowest rates of unionization are in low-wage and hourly jobs like retail and restaurants. Warehouses in the Inland Empire have been steadily multiplying, but an overwhelming majority of those workers don’t belong to a union.

The Inland Empire has more than 500 large warehouses representing all retailers. While many communities have one Amazon warehouse, in the Inland Empire we have 14 large Amazon facilities and dozens more smaller ones. Amazon is the largest private sector employer in the region and in the state of California.

Warehouses typically have high turnover and injury rates driven by the use of piece rates, surveillance and quotas to keep maximum pressure on workers to work as fast as humanly possible in order to keep their jobs. Amazon has one of the highest injury rates in the industry.

The Warehouse Worker Resource Center was founded to engage workers and community members through education, advocacy and action. For over ten years we have built a movement of workers and local residents impacted by the goods movement sector to hold companies accountable for their impacts on workers, communities, the environment and our economy.

Our strategy is rooted in building power in our region and making connections with workers who are part of the global supply chain. To do that we organize workers and teach them how to join with their coworkers to change working conditions for the better.

While our work requires a sophisticated understanding of the flow of freight, the trends in warehousing and logistics, and the business operations of the key players, specifically Amazon;  our approach is also simple.

We live in a region that is dominated by one industry. In the Inland Empire everyone is directly affected by warehouses, many people have worked, currently work or will work in a warehouse and if you are one of the few who don’t have that experience you most certainly know someone who does. Warehouse workers need a resource to help navigate their workplace, find community and get support as they confront and improve their working conditions. We elevate and build the community’s response to this sector and its footprint on our region from residents, workers and policymakers with the goal of making the sector sustainable for everybody.

-Sheheryar Kaoosji