Workers Fighting Back: Warehouse Workers Take the Fight to Walmart

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warehouseunited
May 15, 2009

www.WarehouseWorkersUnited.org There is a growing movement of workers fighting for justice and good jobs in the warehouses of California's Inland Empire. On May 14th, they took the fight to Ameri...

www.WarehouseWorkersUnited.org

There is a growing movement of workers fighting for justice and good jobs in the warehouses of California's Inland Empire. On May 14th, they took the fight to America's largest private employer: Walmart.

The warehouse workers of the Inland Empire are fighting back against the national retailers who dominate the goods movement industry in what is the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet and the distribution hub of the new global economy. These are the workers who need the Employee Free Choice Act because the only hope to improve these jobs is to allow them the freedom to choose to form a union free from fear and intimidation.

The Inland Empire has some of the highest rates of foreclosures and unemployment in the country, but the main industry of the area, warehousing for national retailers, is built on bad, low paying jobs. Most of these jobs are through temp agencies and, in addition to low pay and no benefits these jobs do not allow workers to have any job security. Jobs in the Inland Empire need to be good jobs with a living wage and affordable health care; this is the best way the region has to pull itself out of the Great Recession.

On May 14th, warehouse workers, clergy, community members, and area students staged a nonviolent civil disobedience outside a Walmart warehouse in San Bernardino County. The protest ended with the arrest of 7 people, including 4 clergy members, who had literally put their bodies on the line by blocking the truck entrance to the warehouse.

Over 200 people gathered in front of the Walmart warehouse, carrying signs with messages such as Warehouse Workers Want the Freedom to Form a Union. They were protesting Walmarts vicious anti-worker and anti-union policies and highlighting the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. Past attempt by workers at this warehouse to form a union were thwarted by managements harsh tactics of fear and intimidation.

The Valley Boulevard warehouse is completely dedicated to products destined for Southern California Walmart stores. The facility serves Walmart stores and supplies a significant percent of non-food goods to Walmart stores in the region. The facility operates 7 days a week, with three shifts running 24 hours a day.

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