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ONTARIO, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- On May 28th, Warehouse Workers United staged a major act of civil disobedience in what has become an escalating campaign to draw attention to the economic meltdown in the Inland Empire and its impact on warehouse workers and their families. The action culminated in a dramatic act of nonviolent civil disobedience in the heart of the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet, issuing an urgent national call for dignity and respect of the rights of warehouse workers. These warehouses workers serve retail giants like Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot, companies that are making huge profits, while the Inland Empire economy is crashing.
"While companies like Wal-Mart make billions, the warehouse workers live in poverty. We demand justice for all the workers," said Fernando Santillana, a Methodist minister. "When exploitation of the 'other' is a daily reality, God will ask: Where is your brother/sister? What have you done?"
 While companies like Wal-Mart make billions, the warehouse workers live in poverty. We demand justice for all the workers |
Hundreds of warehouse workers and their allies blocked the street at Etiwanda and Mission and shut down the most important intersection in the Inland Empire's warehouse district. This intersection is the central point through which virtually every truck headed to a warehouse must travel. After blocking oncoming traffic, a forklift was placed in the middle of the intersection and then surrounded by warehouse workers, clergy, area students, and local supporters.
The Inland Empire, with over 410,000,000 sq/ft of warehouse space, is suffering immensely during this recession. The region has the second highest rate of unemployment in the country at 13%, outpacing the national rate by close to 5%. The effects of the already struggling economy are compounded by the retail giants' reliance on temp labor; a majority of warehouse workers are hired through temporary employment agencies. Like other warehouse workers, temporary workers are paid meager wages, have no access to affordable health care, and are denied the right to choose to form a union, and suffer the additional burden of being unable to collect unemployment benefits when they are let go.
Warehouse workers are calling on the national retailers to help end the recession in the Inland Empire by providing good paying jobs, ending the system of temp employment, providing access to affordable health care, and allowing workers to choose to form a union.
"We need good jobs that pay us a living wage and management that treats us with respect," said Gus Jimenez, a warehouse worker who has worked in the industry since he was 17 and was arrested during today's protest. "They harass and abuse us in the warehouses and enough is enough. We deserve to be treated like human beings and, right now, these big retailers don't."
The national retailers who control the warehouse industry are making their profits on the backs of warehouse workers, but today these workers stood up and showed the retailers that they will not back down in their fight for good jobs and the right to choose to form a union free from fear and intimidation. The Inland Empire's economic revitalization is dependent on warehouse jobs changing from bad, mostly temp jobs to good ones that allow workers to support their families.
Warehouse Workers United is dedicated to improving the lives of warehouse workers by creating a strong voice for change.
SOURCE Warehouse Workers United
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