Petition by Elizabeth Brennan
Until April 25 Javier Rodriguez worked as a forklift driver inside a critical Walmart-contracted warehouse in Southern California. Javier and his coworkers labor moving Walmart merchandise for low wages. Most warehouse workers are temporary employees with no benefits, no guaranteed hours and no sick days. They often encounter pollutants, high temperatures, little ventilation and intense retaliation if they complain about the conditions. Serious injuries on the job are common.
Last fall, Javier and his coworkers went on strike to protest the retaliation they experienced when speaking up about unsafe working conditions. They launched a 50-mile pilgrimage from the dusty shadows of Southern California’s Inland Empire to Downtown Los Angeles.
After dismissing workers’ claims about unsafe working conditions in the fall, Walmart told the Wall Street Journal it would step up monitoring of its domestic warehouses. Workers have seen no changes and now one of the most outspoken leaders has been fired. Please take action now -- workers like Javier should not be fired with impunity. We will deliver this petition to Walmart April 29.
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Petition text:
Walmart: We are calling on you to ensure your warehouse contractor - NFI Industries - in Mira Loma, California reinstates Javier Rodriguez, who was unjustly fired Thursday, April 25 from his job as a forklift driver at a warehouse that exclusively moves Walmart merchandise.
Conditions in this warehouse are notoriously bad. In fact, the state of California fined the warehouse operator tens of thousands of dollars for health and safety violations in December. Javier and other workers have bravely spoken out about the working conditions they must endure and even shared their story directly with senior Walmart officials, but their concerns have gone unaddressed and now another courageous worker has been fired in violation of Walmart's own Standards for Suppliers.
We are calling on Walmart to demand its contractor reinstate Javier Rodriguez.
