Warehouse workers David Acosta and Jose Martinez talk about their experiences working at warehouses that move Walmart goods and their visions for justice at Walmart for the next 50 years.
warehouse workers
WWU Worker Leader Santos Castaneda Speaks at a Rally at the Crenshaw Walmart
South Korean Unions in Solidarity with WWU at Walmart Procurement Office Seoul
On March 9, 2012, leaders of the the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Korean Public Service and Transportation Workers Union, and International Solidarity House joined with representatives from Change to Win and Warehouse Workers United to visit the Walmart global procurement office in Seoul, South Korea. The delegation called on the retailer, the direct employer of 2.1 million people worldwide and millions more who contract to produce and ship goods for the company, to adopt a Responsible Contractor Policy to ensure that all workers in their supply chain have living wages and freedom of association. The largest company in the world needs to hear from workers around the world and do something to start creating good jobs! Thanks to KPTU, KCTU and the workers of South Korea for your solidarity.
Workers Stay in Jobs as Ordered by Court
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.
An Open Letter To the Occupy Movement From Schneider Logistics Workers
We, workers at Schneider Logistics in Mira Loma, CA and our colleagues are grateful for the solidarity with our struggle that the Shut Down the Corporations movement is planning on February 29. We have worked moving goods for Walmart in the Inland Empire for years, under difficult conditions, and at a serious cost to our health and the welfare of our families. We are fighting to change these conditions for the better through organizing for justice and asking that Walmart take responsibility for us. By adopting a Responsible Contractor Policy, Walmart can put an end to the abuses we suffer and afford us the dignity we deserve. In November, the company threatened to dismiss workers because we spoke up: about having wages stolen from us, about working up to 72 hours straight, about not receiving even minimum wage after working 16 hour days consistently for years.
We share many of the objectives of the Occupy movement, first and foremost the need for more justice and equality in our economic system, and the need for big corporations like Walmart to stop abusing workers, to contribute to a fairer distribution of wealth, and to put an end to the lawbreaking and worker abuse that permeates the supply chain. But the action on February 29 is not our action – we are glad it is happening, but we had no role in its planning. To be clear, the organization Warehouse Workers United is not coordinating with any organization or group that takes action on February 29 at the Schneider warehouse. We intend to go to work that day, because many of us live under such economic pressure due to our low pay that we cannot afford to miss even a day of work. We are encouraged by your actions, and hope that your efforts draw attention to the profound injustice we have been fighting against in Walmart’s warehouses.
We have heard statements that participants and observers at the planned peaceful protest on February 29 risk arrest. Our response: the real law-breaking is going on inside that facility every day. This is where law enforcement agencies like the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement have already found major violations and continue to investigate. As far as what demonstrators may do or not do on February 29, WE DID NOT PLAN THIS ACTION AND we have no control over DEMONSTRATORS. But in this country, the right to freedom of assembly applies to all of us– and we hope that the assembly on February 29 will be civil.
For the record, our organization Warehouse Workers United has a long track record of demonstrating in the Inland Empire, and we have shown time and time again that we are strongly committed to non-violence, in the tradition of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Cesar Chavez.
In this spirit, we hope that any action that intends to be supportive of our cause be strictly non-violent. We call on demonstrators to hold each other accountable for their actions. We also call on the Riverside County Sheriff to minimize the chances of police over-reaction and to ensure that police response is appropriate and respectful of the rights of protesters.
We thank the Occupy Movement for joining with the many groups calling for Walmart to change its ways, and hope the action you have planned on February 29 is a successful one.
In Solidarity,
David Acosta
Daniel M. Lopez
Jose Martinez
Enrico Enciso
Eric Flores
Marcos Lopez
Armando Perrusquia
Angel Luis Santos
Giovanni Lopez
Jose Brias
Manuel Gonzalez
Emis E. Diaz
Francisco H. Garcia
Ramon Servantez
Luis Lopez
Mira Loma, CA
February 24, 2012
Breaking News: Warehouse Workers Win Support From Federal Court on Retaliation
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.
