Happy Mother's Day from Warehouse Workers United
Martha Medina is a mother and a warehouse worker in San Bernardino, California.
Here is her Mother's Day message:
"I came to this country to help support my mother. From the second you first open your eyes as a newborn you see your mother. She gives you the strength and wisdom to live. Now I support my mother and my two sons as well as my nieces and nephews.
"It hasn't been easy. Temperatures inside the warehouse are high, there is a lot of pressure to work fast, conditions are dangerous and pay is low. Our work is unreliable. I worked through my pregnancy with my second child. There was no respect for my pregnancy and I was constantly worried.
"Pero Madres Son Luchadores, Como Yo."
Warehouse Workers on Walmart at 50
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.
WWU Worker Leader Santos Castaneda Speaks at a Rally at the Crenshaw Walmart
"In September 2005, a senior Wal-Mart lawyer received an alarming e-mail from a former executive at the company’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. In the e-mail and follow-up conversations, the former executive described how Wal-Mart de Mexico had orchestrated a campaign of bribery to win market dominance. In its rush to build stores, he said, the company had paid bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner of the country."
David Barstow, The New York Times
"This is another case that illustrates the oppressive employment practices that exist throughout the warehousing industry in the Inland Empire," Traber said, "and in particular the pressure brought to bear by large retailers like Wal-Mart to push down prices of transporting goods so people at the bottom of totem ... are deprived of wages they are entitled to under the law."
Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
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.
Lilly Fowler, FairWarning
WORKERS STAY IN JOBS AS ORDERED BY COURT
Walmart Contractor Keeps On Workers it Sought to Fire in Retaliation for Seeking Stolen Wages
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.
Mira Loma, CA
February 24, 2012
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
Stand With Warehouse Workers of Walmart!
Join Workers as They Rally for Dignity, Respect, and Justice!
February 16, 2012
10:30AM
4100 Hamner Ave
Mira Loma, CA 91752
[Click HERE to Download a Flyer]
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.
WWU Files Complaint with Walmart Ethics Office, Calls on Retailer to Take Responsibility for Working Conditions Within Its Supply Chain
Click HERE to view the complaint [PDF]
On February 24, Daniel Lopez is going to lose his job. Daniel works in a warehouse in Mira Loma, CA, moving goods for Walmart day in and day out. With what he is paid for unloading hundred pound boxes from containers in the broiling heat, Daniel supports his four young children, two daughters and two sons. He works extremely long hours, usually six days a week, yet still is paid only poverty wages for this grueling work. He has no holidays, sick days, or health insurance.
In September 2011, Daniel and some of his co-workers filed a Federal lawsuit against the operator of his warehouse for not paying them enough to meet the minimum requirements of U.S. wage laws, including not paying the minimum wage for all hours worked and not paying overtime compensation. In this lawsuit, Daniel and his coworkers offer detailed accounts of how they received zero compensation for many hours worked, were denied breaks despite dangerous heat and long hours, and received zero overtime compensation despite working seven-day weeks and 16-hour and longer work days during high season. At the same time that Daniel and his coworkers filed this lawsuit, the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (the California Department of Labor) conducted an inspection of the facility, resulting in more than $600,000 in citations for recordkeeping violations alone. Daniel and his coworkers talked to the government investigators during the inspection. Soon after, Daniel and his co-workers were threatened, harassed, and finally told all 70 of them would be losing their jobs on February 24. For standing up for their basic rights, Daniel and his co-workers are being rewarded with a pink slip. Stand with Daniel Lopez! Sign the petition!
Walmart says: YOU'RE FIRED!
We say: WE'RE FIRED UP!
Stand with Walmart Contracted Warehouse Workers Fighting for Their Jobs!
Wednesday, January 18, 9:30 AM
Schneider Logistics
4100 Hamner
Mira Loma, CA 91752
[Haga clic aqui para ver un folleto en espanol]
Pitzer College Media Studies students produced a video this fall about the struggle that workers at the NFI warehouses in Chino, California have undertaken to improve health and safety conditions at their warehouses. These giant warehouses move goods for Walmart, Kmart and other major corporations. In the video, the workers speak for themselves about the struggle for decent conditions at a warehouse where everybody is employed through a staffing agency. They tell us about why they fight and what this struggle means to them. In this time of the holidays, it is crucial that we think of the workers who are sacrificing by working in dangerous conditions to take care of their families, and supply goods to all of us.
"In October and November, the state Department of Labor Standards Enforcement levied more than $1 million in fines against two labor subcontractors - Premier Warehousing Ventures and Impact Logistics Inc. - for failing to maintain employee time records and for failing to provide itemized wage statements to employees. The subcontractors provided workers to a Riverside County warehouse owned by Schneider Logistics, which distributes goods for Wal-Mart Stores Inc."
Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Another Warehouse Staffing Agency in the Walmart Supply Chain cited for $600,000 by the State of California for Violations of the California Labor Code
As warehouse workers toil to move billions of dollars in goods to retail stores across the country the week before Black Friday, another major employer in the Walmart supply chain has been cited by the State of California for wage and hour violations in one of the largest Walmart subcontracted distribution centers in the world.
One month after the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) raided a major distribution center in the Walmart supply chain in Jurupa Valley (Riverside County, CA) Premier Warehousing Services, Inc., a staffing agency that employs the workers in the facility has been cited by the Department of Industrial Relations for improper recordkeeping and failure to provide workers with the required documentation of the amount of time worked. On October 12, the DLSE investigated two Schneider Logistics warehouses in Riverside County, CA, and found evidence of significant violations at Impact Logistics and Premier Warehousing Services.
Impact was issued a citation for $499,000 the same day of the DLSE’s inspection. Now, the DLSE has issued an even larger citation, for $612,500, against Premier Warehousing Services. The Schneider warehouse that was the site of the DLSE’s inspection and is where all of the workers concerned by these citations work, consists of more than one million square feet of space, all dedicated to Walmart products imported from Asia.
The citation comes on the heels of a significant wage and hour lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on October 18 (Carrillo v. Premier Warehousing, et al.). The workers from the two staffing agencies allege that the staffing agencies, in coordination with warehouse operators Schneider Logistics, systematically stole wages from workers for years through confusing and deceitful payment schemes. The case has secured significant changes already through the district court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order requiring the companies to provide workers with clear information regarding how they are being paid, resulting in one of the staffing agencies to abandon use of a “group piece rate” pay system which is at the heart of the lawsuit’s allegations of unlawful conduct.
“We believe that this is just the beginning of the violations that will be revealed about these companies. Premier has been stealing from workers for years, and it is time they faced justice,” said Everardo Carrillo, one of the named complainants on the suit and a former warehouse worker hired through Premier Warehousing Ventures.
“With this citation, the state has shown its willingness to go after bad employers in an extremely important sector of the economy,” said Guadalupe Palma, Deputy Director of Warehouse Workers United, an advocacy group based in the Inland Valley.
Workers are available for interviews.
Link to DIR press release: http://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2011/IR2011-24.html
Federal Court Issues TRO Requiring Wal-Mart Warehouses to Comply with Law
Plaintiff Warehouse Workers Found Likely to Prevail on Minimum Wage, Reporting Time Pay, Recordkeeping, and Disclosure Claims
In a victory for Southern California warehouse workers, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued a temporary restraining order on October 31, 2011, requiring three Inland Empire warehouse employers that service retail giant Wal-Mart, immediately to begin complying with state and federal payroll recordkeeping and disclosure law.
Judge Christina Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued her ruling in a class action lawsuit filed on October 17, 2011 by six low-wage warehouse workers against Impact Logistics, Rogers-Premier Unloading Services, Premier Warehousing Ventures, and Schneider Logistics. The court held that the workers were likely to prevail on their claims that Impact, Rogers-Premier, and Premier violated California and federal law by failing to pay warehouse workers legally required wages for all hours worked, failing to keep accurate records of the workers’ hours and piece rate production, and failing to disclose to the workers basic information regarding their hours worked and rates of pay.
Judge Snyder also concluded that the workers would suffer irreparable harm without immediate injunctive relief, while defendant employers would “suffer no hardships other than those associated with bringing their recordkeeping procedures and paycheck information into compliance with state and federal requirements – costs that defendants should already be incurring.” As Judge Snyder explained in her 12-page ruling, the employers’ recordkeeping and disclosure violations enable them to “conceal critical pay information” from plaintiffs, and create “a substantial risk that plaintiffs will not be paid in accordance with law. Because plaintiffs are low-wage workers, and lost wages or delays in compensation threaten or impair their ability to meet basic needs, such harms are irreparable.”
According to plaintiffs’ counsel Theresa Traber, “These employees work day in and day out loading and unloading Wal-Mart’s products in sweltering heat. The court’s order requires these employers to comply with their basic legal obligations to tell their workers how they are being compensated for that hard work.”
“When employers conceal information from workers about their rate of pay and fail to keep accurate records of hours worked, they are more likely to get away with not paying those workers for all of their work. Judge Snyder’s order is an important first step in guaranteeing that these workers will now be paid as the law requires,” said Michael Rubin, another attorney representing plaintiffs.
“This order recognizes the irreparable harm suffered by workers, especially low-wage workers, when they are deprived of legally owed wages. The conditions in these warehouses here were particularly extreme, as the workers had no way to know from their paystubs if they were being paid all that was owed them; and the workers who came forward to fight for the rights of their co-workers by filing this lawsuit took brave steps in the face of a campaign of threats and retaliation,” said Janet Herold, who also represents the workers.
The TRO requires Impact, Rogers-Premier, and Premier immediately to begin:
1. Issuing pay stubs to all Mira Loma warehouse workers detailing:
a. Gross pay earned
b. Total hours worked
c. Number of pieces completed
d. Rate applied to each piece
e. Any applicable hourly rates in effect
f. The name and address of the legal entity that is the employer
2. Electronically recording the actual time each worker works, including the time each shift starts (which is when the worker "reports to work") and stops, all meal period time, and every time a worker is assigned a double shift
3. Accurately recording every time a worker is told to report to work but is not put to work or paid, or is given work lasting less than half of the worker's usual shift.
And, for all piece rate workers:
4. Providing each worker with the “piece rate formula, including all information necessary to calculate each employee's pay”
5. Disclosing the rates paid for each trucked loaded or unloaded, including
a. An identifying number for each truck
b. The date the truck was loaded or unloaded
c. The total amount paid to employees for loading or unloading the truck
d. If more than one worker shares in a piece rate for a truck, the name and work location of all employees sharing in the piece rate and the share of that piece rate given to each worker
6. Identifying the hours, on a daily basis, each piece rate worker works on a task other than loading or unloading trucks (such as attending meetings, cleaning the warehouse, waiting for trucks to arrive, labeling, or taking rest breaks required by state law).
Judge Snyder also required these three defendants, as well as defendant Schneider Logistics, to appear in federal court at noon on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 to respond further to the workers’ claims and to show cause why the court’s injunction should not remain in effect until trial.
Plaintiffs are represented by Janet Herold, Special Counsel to Change to Win; Traber & Voorhees of Pasadena; and Altshuler Berzon LLP in San Francisco. The case name is Everardo Carrillo v. Schneider Logistics, Inc.
Contact:
Michael Rubin, Altshuler Berzon LLP, (800) 763-2350 or (415) 421-7151
Theresa Traber, Traber & Voorhees, (626) 585-9611
Kari Lydersen, In These Times
Steven Cuevas, KPCC
Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post
Over the last decade, grassroots opposition to wage theft has grown dramatically across the country. Wage theft, the illegal underpayment of wages primarily affects the working poor.
In a new report: "A Fair Day's Pay: The Movement to End Wage Theft", Nik Theodore, an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, examines over a dozen organizations that utilize innovative tactics to combat this illegal practice. Commissioned by the Discount Foundation, the report reviews a variety of local, state and federal strategies driven by grantee organizations to address violations of employment laws.
Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Investigators in California have discovered numerous labor law violations at a massive warehouse handling Walmart goods, according to state officials.
At the warehouse in Riverside County, Calif., operated by Walmart contractor Schneider Logistics, inspectors with the state labor department found that two of the temporary staffing agencies who supply manual labor have not been keeping track of how much money workers are owed.
One firm, Impact Logistics, Inc., was issued a $499,000 fine for not providing itemized wage statements to the workers who unload and load products at the facility. The company was also issued a warning for failing to maintain time records, and another staffing agency, Premier Warehousing Ventures, was issued a similar warning. There are around 200 workers at the warehouse.
Impact Logistics did not return a phone call seeking comment. Jim Pittman, chief operating officer of Premier, said the company plans on proving that it was actually in full compliance with the law. "My employees mean the world to me," Pittman said. "It is our intent to abide by all of the labor laws whether it be in California or the other states we work in."
None of the workers in the warehouse are employed directly by Walmart, but labor department officials said the products inside were bound for Walmart stores. Dan Fogleman, a Walmart spokesman, said the company has reached out to Schneider to assess the situation.
"This facility is run by a third party, and this is an issue involving some of their subcontractors," Fogleman said. "Although we're not involved in this matter, the contracts we have in place with third parties require that they follow the law, and that’s something we fully expect."
State Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su told HuffPost that many workers were not given proper pay stubs, and it appears that some may not have been paid for all the time they worked. Although many workers have already been interviewed on-site and off, she said the agency will be carrying out a fuller investigation in the coming weeks.
Su added that the layers of subcontracting in warehouse work can make it difficult to enforce labor law.
"Certainly that’s one of the challenges," she said. "Warehouses are one example of the ever-increasing contracting out of labor. It's difficult for enforcement, and in many instances it's a deliberate effort to avoid compliance."
Wage and safety complaints are not uncommon in American warehouses. The Morning Call recently chronicled the sweatshop-like conditions for workers toiling in an Amazon distribution center in Pennsylvania. Workers there said the supervisors refused to open bay doors citing the possibility of employee theft, and the warehouse grew so hot on some days that ambulances waited outside at the ready to treat workers for heat exhaustion.
Schneider, the Walmart contractor, was not cited in the California inspection, since the workers are employed directly by the labor staffing agencies and not by the warehouse company.
A Schneider spokeswoman told HuffPost in a statement that the company has cooperated with the investigation: "We expect the agencies we work with to comply with all California and federal labor laws. We believe that we are in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We expect our vendors to fulfill their responsibilities as well."
The Riverside facility is one in a massive network of warehouses in California's Inland Empire region. Many of the facilities receive clothing, electronics and other dry goods coming from China that are bound for retail stores throughout the United States. Some of the country's biggest retailers use warehouses in the area, but workers in the warehouses are often employed through layers of subcontracting, blurring the lines of accountability.
Sheheryar Kaoosji, research and policy director at the worker advocacy group Warehouse Workers United, told HuffPost that the allegations against the temp companies operating in the Riverside facility are common in Inland Empire warehouses. He said the mostly Latino workers are often hired on a temporary basis and end up earning around the minimum wage.
Temp workers are more vulnerable to alleged abuses than direct hires, he said, and many of them are paid according to a confusing piece-rate schedule.
"Workers don't know how much they're being paid -- they're not showed on their paychecks," Kaoosji said. "Five or six years ago, there was a higher percentage of direct hires. That's been slowly eroding. Every year there are more people employed through the agency."
In addition to the Riverside facility, Schneider Logistics operates an extensive Walmart distribution center outside Chicago, Ill. Earlier this year, workers at that facility filed a class-action lawsuit against Schneider accusing the company of violating labor laws.
At the time, Robert Hines, who has worked on a temporary basis in Chicago-area warehouses for years, told HuffPost that he wasn't compensated for what was often grueling work in the Schneider-operated facility.
"I noticed after a couple of weeks that my checks didn't match my hours," said Hines, who claims he was shorted on overtime as well. "People are breaking their backs, trying to feed their families and be right."
Citing the California case, Su said that without proper pay stubs it can be impossible for a worker to know whether or not he's been paid appropriately.
"In this industry and others like it, this example makes it very clear that the failure to provide a wage statement is part and parcel of an effort to exploit workers," she said.
Jack Katzanek, Riverside Press-Enterprise
Raid at Walmart Subcontracted Warehouse Uncovers Widespread Exploitation of Workers
Raid at National Logistics Firm in Riverside County Forces Industry to Take Notice of Wage and Workplace Abuses
As abuses at Schneider Logistics result in a massive raid and the issuance of a citation of $499,000 on the same day as the raid, Warehouse Workers United press for continued inspections and workplace regulations at warehouses and logistics facilities in the Inland Empire.
Fontana, CA. - Warehouse Workers United praises the actions of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for exposing egregious wage abuses during a raid on Oct. 12, 2011, at Schneider Logistics, a facility in Riverside County, which moves merchandise exclusively for Walmart.
On Oct. 12, 2011 inspectors from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) entered the Schneider facility and cited the staffing and logistics companies employing more than 200 workers inside. The DLSE cited Impact Logistics for improper recordkeeping and failing to provide wage statements, issuing a citation against the company for $499,000. The DLSE also issued a Notice to Discontinue violations of the Labor Code against Premier Warehousing Ventures, another agency employed by Schneider to move goods within the Schneider facility. Labor Commissioner Julie Su announced that the DLSE’s investigation against these companies was “ongoing” and that it “will assess all wages owed to the workers.”
Guadalupe Palma, Warehouse Workers United Deputy Director, said that warehouse workers yesterday were thrilled that the Labor Commissioner has taken notice of the widespread exploitation of workers in this industry. She noted that the raid at Schneider Logistics simply confirmed the rampant abuses occurring in warehouses across the Inland Empire, the largest logistics center in the United States.
Workers at Premier Warehousing Ventures are not told how much they will be paid, but are tasked to move up to 300 boxes, some over 100 pounds, per hour, in temperatures over 100 degrees, frequently for up to 15 hours per day, often for all seven days of the week, Palma explained. Then, at the end of each work week, they are regularly denied both minimum wages and overtime pay required by state law.
“The raid at Schneider is important because it occurred at one of the largest distribution facilities in the world, operated for the biggest corporation in the world, Walmart. We believe this action will benefit hundreds of workers who work in terrible conditions and are regularly deprived of their extremely hard-earned wages. This raid will force the entire logistics industry to take notice.”
In July, WWU assisted workers in filing health and safety violations at NFI Industries in Chino, CA, another major national distribution firm that serves Walmart. These violations have led to five ongoing Cal/OSHA investigations operated through the agency’s High Hazard Unit.
Alejandro Cano, La Prensa
Victory! Santos Rehired!
Over 3,300 of you signed the petition to tell Walmart subcontractor NFI to rehire Santos after he was fired for speaking out about the dangerous conditions in his workplace. Thank you for your support! Although workers have been intimidated, they continue in their struggle to make Inland Empire warehouses safe places to work. This illustrates the power we can have when we are organized, we can do it together!
Walmart and its logistics subcontractors need to respect workers' rights to speak out about dangerous working conditions. Santos Castaneda spoke at a rally about the dangerous conditions at NFI and was fired from his job five minutes later. Tell Walmart and NFI: Rehire Santos!
Walmart Subcontractor Logistics Firm NFI Industries Launches Intimidation Tactics to Silence Workers on Dangerous Health and Safety Violations
Workers around the nation will benefit from a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling requiring companies to post workers’ rights, but workers at NFI Industries in the Inland Empire of Southern California, a major logistics subcontractor for Walmart and other retailers, face retaliation for practicing their right to organize around health and safety violations.
Chino, CA. – On Aug. 24, NFI Industries fired the complainant of a Cal/OSHA filing that outlined severe workplace abuses and is targeting other warehouse workers with veiled threats of calls to immigration, job loss, assignment changes and employers telling workers to ostracize leaders.
“I was fired moments after speaking out at a rally urging NFI Industries to correct workplace abuses,” said Santos Castaneda, a 24-year old Salvadoran man who has worked for the firm for three years. “I was fired because I left flyers promoting a safe workplace in the break room.” Castaneda is available for interviews in English and Spanish.
Reports of retaliation at NFI Industries comes as the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling requiring employers to notify workers of their labor rights and their right to act together to improve working conditions and join a union.
NFI Industries was found to be one of the worst offenders of health and safety violations during a federally-funded survey that interviewed 100 Inland Empire warehouse workers. The survey was conducted in conjunction with UCLA and Warehouse Workers United.
Workers interviewed experienced dismembered limbs, back injuries and repetitive stress syndrome from machinery, chronic headaches and nosebleeds from chemical exposure and extreme temperatures as high as 125 degrees.
Castaneda is among three workers who filed complaints with Cal/OSHA on July 26, 2011 and is the first to be fired. The Cal/OSHA complaints outlined the following abuses:
* Failure to provide industrial truck operator training
* Exposure to dust, fumes, chemical vapors and gasses
* Working in poorly lit conditions or sometimes in the dark
* Lack of hand protection when handling equipment that presents dangers including punctures, cuts and burns
“I’m speaking out because I want the conditions to improve for workers who come after me,” said Marta Medina, an NFI warehouse worker for 5 years and another complainant on the Cal/OSHA filing. “I’m scared I will lose my job, but I can’t stay silent.”
NFI Industries moves merchandise for national retailers including Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot and Kohl’s and employs warehouse workers through the staffing agency, Tristate, which is housed on the premises of NFI Industries in Chino, CA.
Doug Cunningham, Workers Independent News
Steven Cuevas, KPCC
Warehouse Workers United to Hold Rally and Press Event at San Bernardino Cal/OSHA Offices
On Tuesday, July 26, WWU will take action against employers that put the health and safety of warehouse workers at risk. Join us for a press event and rally in front of the Cal/OSHA offices in San Bernardino, where we’ll send the Inland Empire warehouse industry a message that workers will no longer keep these abuses quiet.
WWU Rally and Press Event
In front of the San Bernardino Cal/OSHA Offices
464 W 4th St
San Bernardino
11:30am
Click here to download a flyer (English)
Click here to download a flyer (Spanish)
Mac McClelland, Mother Jones
Warehouse Workers United Hold Commission Hearing to Present Report Exposing Egregious Workplace Health and Safety Hazards in the Inland Logistics Industry
Warehouse Workers United will hold a Community Accountability Commission Hearing tonight, June 30 at 6:00 pm to present the findings of a worker-based research project coordinated with UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health program. Workers and scholars will present the findings of over 100 comprehensive health and safety surveys, and workers will testify with the details of their own stories addressing health and safety concerns in the Warehouse industry to organizational leaders, clergy and the broader community.
Join WWU and community leaders at 16730 Arrow Blvd, Ste B, Fontana, CA 92335 at 6 pm for the commission hearing. Child care and translation will be provided.
Click here to view the report.
Kari Lyderson, In These Times
Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect
In Inland Empire, ‘Temp’ Workers Demand Living Wage
Rose Arrieta reports in Working in These Times: "When companies hire workers through a third party, they can skirt responsibilities that were once a staple for many U.S. workers: healthcare, paid sick days and vacation pay, and the assurance that workers wouldn't be fired on a whim."
Harold Meyerson reports in the Los Angeles Times: "Even by L.A.'s standards of blue-collar invisibility, many warehouse workers in the Inland Empire labor in profound obscurity -- off in a corner of greater Los Angeles, in unmarked mega-sweatshops, working long hours for temp wages with none of the rights of full-time employees."
Warehouse Workers Shutdown the Inland Empire Warehouse District!
The video clip starts after a short advertisement.