Press Room

Press Contact: Daniel I. Medress
213.814.8663
warehouseunited@gmail.com
Warehouse Workers United Media Kit

Press Release - Released: Thursday, May 28, 2009

Inland Empire Warehouse Workers Shutdown the Warehouse District

Civil Disobedience Takes the Fight for Justice to the Region’s Dominant Industry

Ontario, CA - 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 Walmart, Target, and Home Depot, companies that are making huge profits, while the Inland Empire economy is crashing.

“While companies like Walmart make billions, the warehouse workers live in poverty. We demand justice for all the workers,” said Fernando Santillana, a Methodist minister who participated in the protest. “When exploitation of the ‘other’ is a daily reality, God will ask: Where is your brother/sister? What have you done?”

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.

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Press Advisory - Released: Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Inland Empire Warehouse Workers to Stage Civil Disobedience

Retail Giants Deepen the Economic Crisis with Bad Jobs, Low Wages and Intimidation

FONTANA, CA - On May 28th, Warehouse Workers United will stage 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 will culminate 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 Walmart, Target, and Home Depot, companies that are making billions of dollars, while the Inland Empire economy is crashing and the warehouse workers live in poverty.

WHAT:
Caravan for Justice and Mass Nonviolent Action and civil disobedience to draw attention to the economic crisis and its impact on warehouse workers living in poverty in the Inland Empire. Strong visuals. Arrests are likely. Both English and Spanish-speaking workers will be available for interview.

WHO:
Hundreds of warehouse workers and their allies.
Arturo Rodriguez, United Farm Workers, President
Eliseo Medina, Service Employees International Union, Executive Vice President
Jeff Farmer, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Director of Organizing

WHERE:
Caravan begins at 16650 Arrow Blvd, (the parking lot of the Masonic Lodge) near the Warehouse Workers Office in Fontana. Media is welcome to join the caravan here and travel with us to the action site. Interviews and photo opportunities will be available.

For media not taking part in the caravan: Media will meet in the Farmer’s Boys parking lot -- 1380 Etiwanda Ave, Ontario, CA – and then will be directed to the physical location. 1:45pm PST, no later than 2pm PST.

WHEN:
Car Caravan: 12:30pm PST, Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Pre-Action Media Meet Up: 1:45pm PST, Thursday, May 28th, 2009

The Inland Empire is being hit especially hard by the recession and is leading the nation in unemployment and foreclosures. The region’s dominant industry, warehousing is compounding the economic problems by providing bad, low paying, mostly temp jobs that do not provide a path to the middle class. Warehouse workers are standing up to our nation’s largest retailers to fight for good jobs and the right to choose to form a union free from fear and intimidation.

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Press Release - Released: May 14, 2009

Warehouse Workers Fight Walmart’s Anti-Worker Agenda

Clergy Members and Warehouse Workers Arrested During Peaceful Protest

FONTANA, CA- Today, 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 Walmart’s 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 management’s harsh tactics of fear and intimidation.

“Greed has become the rule of thumb in our unjust society. Here we have the injustice of degrading salaries and denying the worker's right to be members of a union. Unions are a necessity due to the injustice and exploitation by the Corporations upon the workers,” said Fr. Pat Guillen, a retired Catholic priest with the San Bernardino Diocese, who was arrested at the protest. “Jesus broke bread and shared the cup with His disciples. We demand that the employers also share the cup of production, created by the workers and break the bread of exploitation and injustice, created by the grid of the corporations; for when injustice is present, there cannot be peace.”

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.

“I worked in this warehouse and it is a sweatshop. While the workers are slaving away in the heat, management is sitting in their air conditions offices,” said Diana Romero, a 20-year-old single mother who was a temp worker at this Walmart warehouse. “Management was always harassing us. They wouldn’t let the workers speak to each other, they followed us into the bathroom to check on us. What Walmart is doing here is not right and we need a change.”

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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Press Advisory - Released: May 8, 2009

Warehouse Workers to Stage Large Protest
Against Retail Giants in Inland Empire

Civil Disobedience to Halt Corporate Distribution in Region w/ One of the Highest Unemployment Rates in the Country

FONTANA, CA- Warehouse workers, local clergy, community members, and area students will participate in a civil disobedience outside the warehouse of an as-yet named major national retailer on Thursday, May 14th at 2pm. Warehouse workers and their supporters are drawing attention to the Inland Empire (IE), which has the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet and one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

The Inland Empire is the central hub of the global economy, with a massive network of distribution centers that move goods from overseas to big-box retail stores across the nation. But a majority of the workers in these warehouses are hired through temp agencies, paid low wages, receive no benefits, and have no job security. Warehouse workers are standing up to our nation’s largest retailers to fight for good jobs and the right to choose to form a union free from fear and intimidation.

Media will meet with organizers at the Fontana Truck Stop and will then be directed to the site of the direct action, nearby. Both English and Spanish-speaking workers will be available for interview.

WHO: Hundreds of warehouse workers, local clergy, community members, and area students.

WHAT: Direct action/civil disobedience to block distribution at a major corporate warehouse. Arrests are likely.

WHERE: Media will meet at Fontana Truck Stop -- 14264 Valley Blvd, Fontana, CA -- and then will be directed to the physical location.

WHEN: 2pm PST, Thursday, May 14th, 2009

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Press Advisory - Released: April 27, 2009

Students and Diverse Groups From Around the Inland Empire to March and Rally on May 1st

International Workers' Day Rally in Support of Rights of Immigrants and Workers

What: March and Rally to Support Immigrant and Worker Rights

When: Friday, May 1, 2009 at 4 p.m.

Where: Starting from the Cesar Chavez Community Center, 2060 University Avenue, and ending at Riverside City Hall, 3900 Main Street

Who: Inland Empire May Day Coalition/Speakers: – Interview OPP

José Calderón, associate professor of sociology and Chicano studies, Pitzer College
María Harte, a mother whose family was broken apart by the raids
An undocumented student from Rubidoux High, speaking about the DREAM Act

Students from UCR will converge on the Cesar Chavez Community Center to unite with close to thirty diverse groups from all over the Inland Empire, as well as hundreds of families and residents from across the region, in a call for fair, comprehensive reform to end abuses against immigrants, workers, and their families.

They will walk down University Ave, accompanied by live music. The march through downtown Riverside will conclude with a program and celebration near the Martin Luther King Jr. statue at City Hall, including music from Mula, a local Latin-ska band. Speakers--including Professor José Calderón of Pitzer College, a mother whose family was affected by the raids and an undocumented DREAMer will address the urgent issues facing immigrants and workers today.

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Press Advisory - Released: April 22, 2009

Mira Loma Town Hall Meeting: Saturday, April 25 at 9:00 A.M.

Jurupa Valley: The Epicenter of Labor Exploitation, Environmental degradation, and Immigrant Intimidation

MIRA LOMA, CA – Warehouse Workers United, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), Teamsters Local 63, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and University of California, Riverside: Labor Studies Program is sponsoring a town hall meeting on April 25, 2009 at 9 am at Mira Loma Middle School. Community members will address the three major issues community members and workers in Jurupa Valley face on a daily basis in the areas of labor, environment and immigration.

What: Town hall meeting to address the pressing issues of worker, environmental, and immigrant rights.

When: Saturday, April 25th at 9:00 A.M.

Who:   Warehouse Workers United
            Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
            International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 63
          University of California, Riverside: Labor Studies
      International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Residents of Jurupa Valley

Where: Mira Loma Middle School
5051 Steve Ave
Riverside, CA 92509

Riverside County’s logistics industry offers workers low wage jobs, and exposes workers and the community to dangerously high levels of pollution. The Inland Valley is home to the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet and brings large amounts of pollution to the region, causing a public health crisis by exposing surrounding communities to noxious diesel emissions. Studies show that the closer one is to a diesel source, the higher the health risk. Each day, over 200,000 diesel trucks are on the road in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. In 2003, 30,600 trucks traveled on Highway 60 and that number is now up to 35,000. About 90% of road-related diesel production in Southern California comes from trucks moving goods. Mira Loma has the fourth highest levels of particulate pollution in the world after, Jakarta, Calcutta, and Bangkok, according to available data. The Inland Empire serves as a living reminder of the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to give working people a real shot at the American Dream.

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Press Release - Released: April 16, 2009

Warehouse Workers Sit-In At Temp Agency

Warehouse Workers Tell Walmart: “Don’t Temp Out the American Dream”

FONTANA, CA – Half an hour ago, twelve supporters of Warehouse Workers United – a group working to improve warehouse jobs in California’s Inland Empire – commenced a sit-in at a temporary employment service office. The group, composed of warehouse workers, students, and community members, along with over 100 supporters picketing in front of the Staffmark office (16846 Valley Blvd, # C, Fontana, CA 92335), is protesting the bad jobs in the region’s dominant industry: warehousing. Warehouse jobs could be good, middle class jobs that help lift the Inland Empire out of the current economic crisis, but instead they are bad jobs with low wages and no benefits.

“We are here today because warehouse workers are struggling to get by and we need good jobs with good pay, health care, and the right to choose to form a union,” said Olga Romero, a local warehouse worker who is participating in the protest. “Powerful companies like Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Sears/Kmart, are in control out here and they need to take responsibility for the workers in their supply chain.”

What started as a rally on the corner of Sierra Avenue and Valley Boulevard, a major intersection in the City of Fontana, quickly turned into a sit-in at the Staffmark office up the street. Over half of all warehouse workers in the Inland Empire are hired through temp agencies and subject to a degrading and dangerous work environment. These workers are poorly paid, actively denied the opportunity to work a 40-hour week, laid off without warning or compensation, forced to work with old and unsafe equipment, and threatened with dismissal if they speak up about the hazardous conditions at the warehouse. Laid off temp warehouse workers cannot collect unemployment insurance, have no recall rights, and cannot make ends meet. Some are forced to live in their cars while others have been reduced to searching dumpsters to find food for their families.

“These bad warehouse jobs are killing our community,” said Brett Fisher, a longtime warehouse worker. “How are we supposed to take care of our families when big retailers like Walmart hide behind temp agencies and treat us like we are slave labor?”

While the rest of the country is experiencing a recession, the Inland Empire is in the middle of a depression with nation-leading rates of unemployment and foreclosures. The big retailers that dominate the warehouse industry -- Walmart, Target, Sears/Kmart, Home Depot, Lowe's -- have built a business model dependent on low wage, temp jobs that are destroying the region's already struggling economy. Warehouse workers are calling on the nation’s retail giants to recognize the responsibility they have for workers in their supply chain and make warehouse jobs good jobs with a living wage, affordable health care benefits, and the freedom to choose to form a union without harassment and intimidation.

“I am not a temporary person, so, why should I have a temporary job that forces me to choose between paying rent and feeding my kids?,” said Clarissa Lua, a local warehouse worker and mother of three. “The only jobs we can get out here are warehouse jobs; they have to be good jobs and companies like Walmart have to do the right thing.”

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Press Release - Released: April 9, 2009

Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA) Hears Testimony on Warehouse Jobs

Special Hearing in Fontana Sheds Light on Area’s Dominant Industry

FONTANA, CA – On Thursday, April 9, Congressman Joe Baca, Assemblymember Norma Torres, and San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales heard testimony from warehouse workers, union members, and academics about the jobs in the Inland Empire’s warehouse industry and the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. Warehouse jobs could be good, middle class jobs that help lift the Inland Empire out of the current economic crisis, but instead they are bad jobs with low wages and no benefits.

"We are fighting for change, good jobs, and dignity and respect," said Olga Romero, one of the local warehouse workers who testified at tonight’s special hearing. “We need real jobs and the freedom to choose to form a union.”

“Tonight, Rep. Baca and all the elected officials got to hear how bad these warehouse jobs are,” said Brett Fisher, a longtime warehouse worker who testified at tonight’s special hearing. “With their support and the support of the community, we know we can make the big retailers do the right thing and make warehouse jobs good jobs.”

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Press Release - Released: March 31, 2009

Warehouse Workers Continue the Struggle of Cesar Chavez

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Today, Cesar Chavez Day, warehouse workers were joined by farm workers, clergy members, elected officials, and community members to honor the life and legacy of the great labor leader and community organizer. In the tradition of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, Warehouse Workers United is bringing together warehouse workers from across the Inland Empire to fight for good jobs, affordable health care benefits, an end to the temp jobs system, and the right to choose to join together in a union.

"The legacy of Cesar Chavez lives on in the struggle of the warehouse workers," said Roman Pinal of the United Farm Workers. "In the same way that immigrant farm workers first joined together and organized to take on the big growers in the 1960s, thousands of warehouse workers are now uniting to take on the biggest retail corporations in America, like Walmart, Home Depot, and Sears/Kmart."

"We are part of Warehouse Workers United because we are fighting for change, just like Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers," said warehouse worker, Olga Romero. "We are fighting for good, fulltime jobs so we can sustain our families."

"Cesar Chavez left a powerful legacy of overcoming poverty by organizing low-wage and immigrant workers to fight for justice and to call their corporate employers to respond to their needs," said Fr. James Gibson, a priest in the San Bernardino Diocese. "Warehouse Workers United is a movement that Cesar Chavez would support today - low-wage workers, many of them immigrants, organizing to call for corporate responsibility to workers and communities."

The Inland Empire (IE) is home to the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet. Between 1990 and 2005, Southern California lost over 361,000 manufacturing jobs while experiencing a massive expansion of warehouse space in the IE. The goods movement industry was supposed to provide a path to the middle class for workers in the region, but instead a majority of the workers in these warehouses are hired through temp agencies, paid low wages, receive no benefits, and have no job security.

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Press Advisory - Released: March 26, 2009

Cesar Chavez Day Events Spotlight Warehouse Workers United

United Farm Workers Call Warehouse Workers the Living Legacy of Cesar Chavez

What: Press Conference, Prayer Service, Processional, and Mass to honor the life of Cesar Chavez

When: Tuesday, March 31st

Who: Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, San Bernardino Diocese
           Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego, San Bernardino Diocese (invited)
           Rev. David Starr, St. John’s Episcopal Church
           Mike Trujillo, District Director, Rep. Joe Baca (invited)
           County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, San Bernardino (invited)
           Mayor Patrick J. Morris, San Bernardino (invited)
           Councilmember Dennis Baxter, San Bernardino (invited)
           A representative of the United Farm Workers
           A representative of the Inland Congregations United for Change
           Members of Warehouse Workers United

Schedule:
4pm – Outdoor prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church,
1407 N. Arrowhead Ave, San Bernardino

5pm – Processional from St. John's Episcopal Church to Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral

6pm – Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral,
265 W. 25th St., San Bernardino

There will be hundreds of people marching from St. John’s Episcopal Church to Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral. Cameras will be allowed inside the Cathedral to film the mass.

FONTANA, CA – Following the example of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, the warehouse workers of the Inland Empire are coming together to fight for good jobs that can sustain their families. What could be good, middle class jobs that help lift the Inland Empire out of the current economic crisis are, in fact, bad jobs with low wages and no benefits.

While the rest of the country is experiencing a recession, the Inland Empire is in the middle of a depression with nation leading rates of unemployment and foreclosures. The big retailers that dominate the warehouse industry -- Walmart, Target, Kmart, Home Depot, Lowe's -- have built a business model dependent on bad, temp jobs that are destroying the region's already struggling economy. Warehouse workers are calling on the nation’s retail giants to recognize the responsibility they have for workers in their supply chain.

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Press Release - Released: March 13, 2009

Warehouse Workers Call for an End to Staffmark’s Abusive Treatment

Bad Warehouse Jobs are Hurting the Inland Empire’s Economy

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA – Today, warehouse workers from a local UPS Mail Innovations warehouse delivered a letter to the on-site Staffmark office calling on Staffmark to end their long history of mistreating and exploiting workers. Staffmark, a temporary employment service that provides workers for the UPS Mail Innovations facility, is so embedded in the operations of the warehouse that they have an office inside UPS Mail Innovations’ Rancho Cucamonga distribution center. The warehouse workers, members of Warehouse Workers United, were joined by workers from other area warehouses, members of the clergy, community leaders, and students.

Staffmark maintains a degrading and dangerous work environment in which workers are poorly paid, actively denied the opportunity to work a 40-hour week, laid off without warning or compensation, forced to work with old and unsafe equipment, and threatened with dismissal if they speak up about the hazardous conditions at the warehouse. This is another example of the broken system of warehouse jobs that has exacerbated the Inland Empire’s economic crisis.

Warehouses are the dominant industry in the region and the bad jobs they provide are holding back the area’s already troubled economic development. While the rest of the country is experiencing a recession, the Inland Empire is in the grips of a depression that is compounded by the concentration of bad warehouse jobs.

"Staffmark treats the warehouse workers like we are garbage, but UPS is a good company. This just doesn’t make any sense," said Clarissa Lua, who was placed at the UPS Mail Innovations warehouse by Staffmark. "Staffmark is dragging UPS' name through the mud."

According to its website, Cincinnati-based Staffmark is one of the top ten commercial staffing companies in the United States. "Staffmark operates over 300 locations, providing staffing solutions across a comprehensive range of disciplines." Staffmark places over 38,000 temporary workers every week.

"Staffmark is always moving our shifts around so we can’t work 40 hours a week. They make us work through our breaks, and they pay us dirt wages with no benefits," said Isabel Castelan, who worked as a sorter at the UPS Mail Innovations warehouse. "Staffmark makes us work with old equipment when moving large, heavy boxes around and people have been hurt. But they don’t care. Anyone who says anything is told to be quiet or they will be fired."

Staffmark’s many abuses form a lengthy laundry list of horror stories that has become standard operating procedure among the Inland Empire’s warehouses. Staffmark is the poster-child for the temporary employment services who dominate the region’s warehouse industry. Instead of respecting the work of men and women who are critical to the economic engine of the region and the country, the logistics industry has adopted a business model that fails to create quality, middle class jobs that can sustain families and communities.

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Press Release - Released: February 13, 2009

Warehouse Workers Protest Lay Offs and Treatment

ONTARIO, CA – Today, former workers from the Kmart and Skechers warehouses in Ontario protested being laid off without warning, prior notification, or any offer of severance. These layoffs are an example of the broken system of warehouse jobs that has exacerbated the Inland Empire’s economic crisis. In this protest, in front of the Kmart warehouse, laid off workers from both corporations told of poor treatment from management.

The Kmart workers, who had been employed at the warehouse from between 3 and 11 years, were dismissed last month. "I gave them my sweat, I gave them my hard work and in return I got laid off," said Cassy Ferias, who worked at the warehouse for 10 years. "One day we show up for work and we’re told we don’t have jobs. This is no way to treat people." The laid off Kmart workers are calling for severance pay and recall rights. The owner of the Sears Holding Corporation is a recipient of federal bailout money.

This pattern of mistreatment was repeated at the Skechers warehouse. "Working at the Skechers warehouse is hard enough, but it’s even worse when you get treated so badly and have no job security," said Dilma Fuentes, recently laid off from her position at the Skechers warehouse. "One day I have a job and the next I am worrying about how to feed my kids."

These stories from warehouse workers are typical across the Inland Empire. Instead of respecting the work of men and women who are critical to the economic engine of the region and the country, the logistics industry has adopted a business model that fails to create quality, middle class jobs that can sustain families and communities.

Warehouse workers are coming together through Warehouse Workers United to improve their lives by calling for better jobs in the industry and creating a strong voice for change. "It’s because of the hard work we do that companies like Kmart and Skechers have done so well over the years and this is how they treat us," said Michael McKnight, who worked at the Kmart warehouse for 10 and a half years. "We know that change only happens when we come together and speak out."

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Press Advisory - Released: February 11, 2009

Protest at Kmart Warehouse in Ontario on Friday, February 13th

Laid Off Warehouse Workers Call for Severance Pay and Recall Rights

What: Protest and press conference to call for severance pay and recall rights for laid off Kmart warehouse workers.

Who: Former Kmart employees, local clergy members, community leaders, students, and members of Warehouse Workers United.

Where: 5600 E Airport Dr.,
Ontario, CA 91761

When: Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 10:30 A.M.

ONTARIO, CA – On Friday, February 13th, over 50 recently laid off, longtime employees of the Kmart warehouse in Ontario, CA will protest their termination and renew their call for severance pay and recall rights. These workers will be joined by over 100 local clergy members, community leaders, students, and members of Warehouse Workers United.

These Kmart warehouse workers, who were employed by Kmart for between 3 and 11 years, were laid off without warning or prior notification despite their long records of service to the company. On January 30th, these workers presented Kmart management with a letter calling for severance pay and recall rights. So far the workers’ request has been ignored and Kmart management has refused to meet with them.

The Inland Empire is home to the largest concentration of warehouse space on the planet and the logistics industry is a crucial part of the region's economy. However as large corporations like Walmart have continued to profit even during the current economic crisis, warehouse workers have been left behind with bad jobs, low wages, and no benefits. Workers and local leaders are calling on the area’s logistics companies to make jobs in the Inland Empire quality jobs that sustain the community and help the whole region.

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