Police in the service of Walmart, the riot squad marches out from the warehouse grounds to confront peaceful demonstrators.

On Saturday, September 15, workers at a key Walmart distribution center here went on strike to protest illegal retaliation and other labor abuses. The strike is against unfair labor practices committed by the employer, Roadlink Workforce Solutions. The workers are members of the Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee, which is being assisted by Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ) and UE. In walking off the job, they joined workers at another Walmart warehouse in Mira Loma, California who were already on strike over similar issues.

On Monday, October 1 their strike became an even bigger piece of the struggle for workers' rights and economic justice when some 650 people rallied in support of the strike. Those gathered outside the giant Walmart warehouse included unions, community organizations and faith-based groups from Chicago and from the Joliet area, where the plant is located. The protest resulted in the giant Walmart warehouse being entirely shut down for the day.

The police showed up, heavily armed and seemingly ready for war. Clad in black riot gear that was meant to intimidate, 25 police from a unit called the Mobile Field Force Team assembled inside Walmart's parking lot and then marched out in formation to confront the peaceful rally. When the police ordered the crowd to disperse, 17 union and community leaders, in a civil disobedience action planned in advance, refused to leave, sat down in the street, and were arrested. Among those arrested were a Will County board member, several members of the clergy, UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley and UE Western Region President Carl Rosen. The arrestees were not in police custody for long, and each received a citation of obstructing a roadway.

The Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee is organizing workers in the logistics industry in the Joliet area of Will County, one of the largest concentrations of warehouses in the country. In recent months they have focused increasingly on contractors at the Walmart warehouse because "They are the worst of the worst," as WWJ organizer Cindy Marble told the Naperville Sun.

The strike, and particularly the Oct. 1 rally, have received extensive media coverage. You can find links to some of those news stories at ueunion.org and at UE's Facebook page. Find out more about the struggle, and donate to the Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee, at warehouseworker.org.

The Illinois workers walked out in response to the outrageous behavior of their Roadlink management on Sept. 15 when 30 workers tried to present a petition objecting to wage theft, poverty wages, the lack of set working schedules, and discrimination. A boss charged into the group of petitioners on a large forklift, management threatened to fire them, and did fire some leaders. Roadlink has also been harassing workers in retaliation for a federal lawsuit filed on September 13 charging the company with wage theft. This is the sixth lawsuit against a Walmart contractor at the Elwood warehouse.

"We are on strike to protest violations of our rights. We are tired of retaliation and threats every time we speak up about unsafe working conditions and other abuses", said Eric Skoglund, a striking warehouse worker.

Walmart has been harshly criticized for the legal violations of its contractors and towards its store associates. In California, contractors at warehouses serving Walmart were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars by OSHA, and a federal judge issued several orders and injunctions in favor of the workers, including an injunction stop the mass firing of workers who had filed a lawsuit.

Walmart spokesman Dan Fogelman told the Naperville Sun that Walmart executives toured the Elwood warehouse in September. "We believe the issues that have been raised were either unfounded, or if legitimate have been addressed." He told reporters that WWJ is using the warehouse workers to advance the agenda of "union bosses" in UE.

The Southern California work stoppage began September 12 among warehouse workers protesting retaliatory actions by their employers, NFI and Warestaff, both of which are Walmart contractors. The California strike ended on September 28 with a negotiated settlement that will improve working conditions in the warehouse.

VOICES FROM THE RALLY

Mike Compton, striking worker

"We work in 120 degrees in the summer, below freezing in winter. I've been here three months - the turnover is unbelievable. California won their strike and got health and safety cleaned up and made Walmart take responsibility for their actions."

Carl Rosen, UE Western Region president

"The rally was a great mix of all sorts of people, all of whom are insistent that there be justice for the workers at the Walmart warehouse and all of the warehouses. They understood that this is a fight for decent jobs, reliable jobs they can go to everyday rather than always being a temporary worker, not knowing how many hours you'll have on any given day. It's about having safe and healthy working conditions, decent wage and benefits, and not having those stolen from them on a regular basis, as has happened. We heard from some of the striking workers and also from a worker in one of the Walmart stores who's part of the Our Walmart organizing campaign among Walmart store workers. There were also labor and religious speakers.

"Then we marched to the other end of the warehouse - a walk that's just short of a mile. We did a large picket line of 650 people at the shipping entrance, which was shut down. Walmart had locked their gates. Then the police ordered people off the streets, and 17 of us sat down and were arrested after a ridiculously over-accessorized group of riot police marched out from inside Walmart property. I guess they felt the need to send a message of intimidation, but no one was intimidated. If anything, that makes people even more determined."

Cindy Marble, WWJ organizer

"It's personal for me. I lived it working here in the warehouses. My son worked here and other family members, too. We're tired of making money for these companies that treat people like slaves. Walmart sets the bar for the warehouses around here. They hire the temp agencies, and they should take responsibility for what's going on in their house. We've recovered over a million dollars in stolen wages from the warehouses, but lawsuits are only bandages, we need to get organized."

Bob Kingsley, UE Director of Organization

"This is not only a struggle to win justice for Roadlink workers at the Walmart warehouse. It is a struggle for justice for all warehouse workers, for all temporary workers, for all who are engaged in precarious work. Every night on the news politicians preening for the national elections are talking about the jobs problem. If they want to understand the jobs problem, they ought to come to Will County Illinois and look at the bleak picture beneath the Walmart sign.

"What do workers find inside this Walmart warehouse? Boxes weighing more than 200 pounds, temperatures soaring to more than 120 degrees, wages so low that families are sentenced to poverty, and bosses so bad that they threaten anyone who dare speak up about the abysmal conditions.

"It's time for Walmart to take responsibility for the behavior of its contractors. It's time for Walmart to clean up these horrible conditions."

Uylanda Dickerson, WWJ

"When you're working in a warehouse you're lucky to get $200 in a week. With $200 you can't do anything - can't buy food, can't pay a babysitter, can't hardly pay rent. It's especially bad for women - sexual assaults, the bosses come up to look at our bodies. I don't come here to have my body touched or looked at."

Rev. Craig Purchase, pastor of Mt. Zion Tabernacle Church in Joliet, arrested at the rally

"We have to stand up and all get together. It's our grandchildren that are getting shredded at these temp jobs. We call it the meat grinder. With temporary work, you can't get insurance, you can't get any respect. This fight is a fight for our whole community, for our children and grandchildren. I've never been arrested in my life but I'm putting my body on the line today."

MEDIA COVERAGE

The Oct. 1 rally received widespread coverage in local and national media. Click on the titles below to see some of the media reports.

Naperville Sun [1]

The Nation [2]

Southtown Star [3]

In These Times [4]

Democracy Now! [5]