Chicago Area Wal-Mart Warehouse Workers Announce Wage Theft Lawsuit

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Independent Workers News

By Doug Cunningham

Workers at a Wal-Mart warehouse in Chicago are announcing a class action lawsuit today alleging that a temporary staffing agency is in essence stealing wages. Tim Bell, lead organizer with the Chicago Workers Collaborative says this is about corporations like Wal-Mart using temp staffing agencies to lower labor standards. He says an organizing campaign is underway at the Centerpoint Intermodal Center in Elwood, Illinois because even though Wal-Mart is the richest corporation in the world, workers who distribute its products are being treated like slaves.

: “The organizing campaign seeks to organize temporary staffing workers to raise those standards, with the goal of forcing major companies such as Wal-Mart to own up to the responsibilities to workers and not simply outsource work and lower standards."

Read more: http://www.laborradio.org/node/12523

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[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CreekDog]

2. Bastards!

This post could also be made on Free Republic.

But in that case it would be referring to the workers. :eyes:

[hayu_lol]

3. Sounds to me like its time to again...

start unions wherever needed.

This insidious 'temp' problem will not otherwise go away.

Those against unions should be rethinking their positions.

[WriteDown]

4. Not sure how unions will eliminate temps though...

The jobs that union members do and temp workers do tend to be different animals.

[Blue Hen Buckeye]

7. 2 things

Temps should get the same benefits and wages regular full time workers do. If they did get these benefits and wages a lot of the incentive to use temps would go away. Sometimes there is true temporary need, but most of the time they are just being used as way around paying regular full time wages and benefits. You would think the pittance they pay their regular employees would be low enough.

[mstinamotorcity]

8. You are right

There are a lot of companies that use temp staffing as a way not to give benefits. Most temp agencies don't offer health insurance and the ones that do offer after one year. Which means that you have probably been at three or four different jobs. Because most let you get eighty five to eighty nine days of employment. I wonder why????????

[WriteDown]

9. That is fine by me...

but it would essentially eliminate temp agencies. The question is whether there are people who would rather be temps.

[WriteDown]

5. This article is also very confusing...

Are they suing Walmart for the temp agencies transgressions? That seems odd.

[yurbud]

6. k & r

[BrklynLiberal]

10. Good. I expect Wal-Mart will shut down the store just for spite.

[totodeinhere]

11. This outrage is very common at many companies.

They don't want to pay fair wages and benefits, so they fire the employees they have on their books and hire lower paid temp workers instead who have no benefits to do the same work. It has got to stop. It's as bad as outsourcing jobs to other countries.

The Dems have big majorities in Congress. Why can't they outlaw this sort of thing? Or are they in the hip pockets of big business just like the GOP is?

[Omaha Steve]

12. I googled walmart news

No MSM stories on this. I wonder why?