Chain of Greed

er, noted, “We were directed simplyto sign our names each morning onblank forms maintained by the supervisors.We did not write in the timewe arrived at work or the time we finished.The Rogers Premier supervisorsor the lead workers would after writedown the fake start and end times.”Lead worker Evaristo Morales reported,“I was told to write down fewerhours than any of us actually worked,and was never told to record my actualwork hours or to accurately record thework hours of any of the warehouseworkers.”In late 2011, the California LaborCommissioner issued citations totalingmore than $600,000 to Premierand almost $500,000 to Impact Logisticsfor wage and hour violations discoveredduring an inspection of theSchneider Logistics plant. Violationsincluded employers’ failure to furnishaccurate statements with paychecksthat include detail on total hoursworked, hourly pay, piece rates if suchpay is utilized, deductions, and otherwage information. 72Hazardous Workplace Conditions.Warehouse work poses several dangersto workers’ health and safety.In 2012, excessive heat, pressure forspeed, unstable storage stacking, andunguarded machinery led Cal/OSHAto issue over $250,000 in citationsfor safety hazards to warehouses, includingNFI, another Walmart contractor.73 The complexity of work performedin warehouses, fast-movingvehicles, and the pace of productionhas led Cal/OSHA to identify thewarehouse industry as one of thestate’s high hazard industries. 74 A recentacademic survey of warehouseworkers in the Inland Empire revealedthat at least 63 percent had been injuredon the job, 83 percent sufferedfrom a job-related illness, and 84 percenthad witnessed an injury to a coworker.75Climate of Fear and Retaliation.Managers retaliated against workerswho asked for more informationabout unpaid wages or about the piecerate system by denying them work, issuingdisciplinary warnings or threats,sending complaining workers home,or threatening to terminate workers.Armando Esquivel, a warehouse worker,remembered asking his supervisorabout an incorrect paycheck. “Healways promised to look into it butmy pay was never corrected, not evenonce. When I would repeat my complaints,he would tell me: ‘I have a pileof job applications on my desk morethan a foot high, if you don’t like thisjob, you can go home.’”After workers filed a lawsuit allegingviolations of labor protections,managers called a mandatory meetingin the warehouse. Two employeespresent at that meeting recalled thattheir manager crumpled up flyers discussingthe lawsuit and threatenedto “destroy you and throw you in thetrash if you get involved” in the lawsuit.76Workers alleging unlawful labor practicesat the Mira Loma warehouse facilitywere vindicated when a federaldistrict court ordered that temporarystaffing agencies Rogers-Premier andPercentage of warehouse workers injuredon the job:Percentage of warehouse workers who havesuffered from a job-related illness:Percentage of warehouse workers who havewitnessed an injury to a coworker:Impact, and the workers’ joint employer Schneider, must immediatelybegin to provide the workers withcorrect wage statements, disclose payrates for each truck container loadedor unloaded, and abide by federal andstate recordkeeping requirements. 77Instead of bringing their illegal practicesinto compliance with the law,Rogers-Premier and Schneider respondedto the workers’ lawsuit andcooperation with state labor officialsby announcing that their jointly employedworkers would all be terminatedwithin three months. The workersreturned to court, and celebrated amajor victory when the federal judgeprohibited the companies from terminatingthose workers. 78The Inland Empire warehouse workershave also been organizing arounda broad banner calling for fair wagesand benefits, safe working conditions,and responsible contractingpractices by Walmart. The campaign,formed as Warehouse Workers United(www.warehouseworkersunited.org),which is affiliated with the Changeto Win Strategic Organizing Centercomprised of four international unions,has been organizing in SouthernCalifornia, in the state’s capitol,and around the U.S. to champion thecause of these struggling workers.63%83%84%Deogracia Cornelio et al., Shattered Dreams and Broken Bodies: A Brief Review of the Inland Empire Warehouse Industry (LosAngeles: Warehouse Workers Accountability Commission, 2011).13