Vol. 79/No. 35      October 5, 2015

Militant

Jenny Mills speaks outside Walmart in Pico Rivera, California, Sept. 10, demanding reinstatement of 530 workers. From right are co-workers Evelin Cruz and Venanzi Luna.

Walmart laid off some 2,200 workers when it abruptly closed this store and another four in Florida, Oklahoma and Texas April 13, claiming “plumbing problems.” The retail giant recently announced it would reopen the Pico Rivera store in late October or early November and said employees could reapply for their jobs.

Walmart claims 75 percent of laid-off workers who requested a transfer to another store received an offer to do so. Company spokesman Brian Nick said that the retailer’s goal is “to rehire as many high-performing associates as possible so we can serve our customers in these communities.”

“This was the strongest store with the most activity, the most members of OUR Walmart, the most outspoken leaders, and Walmart could not take that so they decided to close it down,” Evelin Cruz told the rally. She worked at the store for almost 11 years until she was fired last November. “We were the loudest in the fight for fair wages and enough hours,” Cruz said. “We were the first to go on strike. We were the first to do a sit-down. We will be the last to shut our mouths when it comes to this fight.”

OUR Walmart — Organization United for Respect at Walmart — is a national group fighting for $15 an hour, full-time work and regular schedules.

Jenny Mills worked at the Pico Rivera store for nine years and joined OUR Walmart two and a half years ago. She told the rally she became homeless two years ago when she was unable to pay her rent.

Fight for respect and dignity

“We will continue to show up if we’re not reinstated,” Venanzi Luna, a leader of OUR Walmart who has worked at the store here for eight years, told the rally.

Management “told us they were going to get us back into another store,” said Julia Sanchez, a cashier who supports the OUR Walmart actions. “I did all the things they told me to do. They called me up and said, ‘We can’t find anything.’”

Members of the UFCW, Teamster port truckers and carwash and fast-food workers active in the fight for $15 attended the rally.

Also speaking were Rusty Hicks, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and Gregory Salcido, mayor of Pico Rivera.

“An injustice to one is an injustice to all,” Mario Gonzalez, a Teamster port trucker, told the Militant. “We support the fight for reinstatement. They’ve supported us and the fight for $15. Their fight is our fight. Port truck drivers have family members that work at Walmart.”

Walmart workers, the UFCW, Making Change at Walmart and OUR Walmart announced they had filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board that workers who had participated in protests against the company faced discrimination in the transfer process. An earlier complaint alleging Walmart closed the five stores in an act of retaliation against the activities of OUR Walmart supporters here is under NLRB investigation.

Walmart has a history of fighting workers’ organizing efforts. In 2004, it closed the store in Jonquiére, Quebec, after workers voted to unionize. Ten years later the Canadian Supreme Court ruled the company had violated labor laws. Two weeks after butchers at a Jacksonville, Texas, Walmart voted to join the UFCW in 2000, the company closed 180 meat departments in stores nationwide and switched to prepackaged meat, eliminating all butcher jobs. More than 70 workers who participated in strikes in June 2013 were fired and disciplined.

In February, responding to increased OUR Walmart activity, including Black Friday Thanksgiving weekend actions and a petition drive, Walmart announced it would raise wages for current employees to $9 an hour in April and $10 in February 2016, a step affecting 500,000 workers.
 
 
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