Strike Supporters Shut Down Illinois Walmart Warehouse

http://labornotes.org/2012/10/strike-supporters-shut-down-illinois-walmart-warehouse

Micah Uetricht | October 2, 2012


Six hundred supporters of striking Walmart warehouse workers in Elwood, Illinois, ratcheted up the pressure Monday with a huge march and civil disobedience that shut down the most important node in the company’s American distribution network. Workers estimate that shutting down the facility cost the company several million dollars.

The goal was to shine light on an enormous but hidden workforce of warehouse employees toiling to move Walmart’s famously cheap products throughout the country. Community and labor supporters from the Chicago area joined the 30 strikers, who walked off the job in an unfair labor practice strike September 15. They are members of the Warehouse Workers Organizing Committee.


Six hundred people blocked a Walmart warehouse in Elwood, Illinois, yesterday to protest wage theft and retaliation against striking workers. Seventeen were arrested. Photo: Stand Up Chicago.

Seventeen religious, labor, and community leaders were arrested at the warehouse entrance—closed for the day in anticipation of the action.

Coming on the heels of California warehouse workers’ return to work after a two-week strike, things seem to be heating up among workers in Walmart’s supply chain.

FULL story at link.

Troublemakers gear: https://store.labornotes.org/