by Scott Creighton
650 employees of a Wal-Mart Distribution center in Elwood, Illinois staged a peaceful march and sit-down strike to protest unfair and unsafe working conditions yesterday. The police responded as they always do when commerce and thus the profits of the masters are at risk: they strapped on their big boy toys, loaded up their riot guns and went off to defend those American Values from ordinary, unarmed American workers.
The workers were upset about “unpaid wages, non payment of overtime and non-payment of minimum wage. There are unsafe conditions“. They are brought in without knowing how long their shift will be; could be 12 hours or could be 2. It all depends on what Wal-Mart can get them to do during the day and the orders that need to be filled. Imagine having to do that at your job.
You think this county is becoming a 3rd world nation? We’re already there my friend.
Luckily no one was hurt and it seems at least from the video you can watch here, the police treated the protesters with respect and they in turn did the same. But don’t you think they could have accomplished the same thing wearing their everyday uniforms? I guess Elwood has to justify all that Homeland Security money somehow.
“No one should come to work and endure extreme temperatures, inhale dust and chemical residue, and lift thousands of boxes weighing up to 250lbs with no support. Workers never know how long the work day will be- sometimes its two hours, sometimes its 16 hours. Injuries are common, as is discrimination against women and illegal retaliation against workers who speak up for better treatment”. Press TV
Filed under: Neoliberalizing America, Scott Creighton
If people don’t stop shopping at Walmart, there will soon be no where else to shop….
K-Mart is closing up stores all over the States…. lets support them for a while….. and Target, Sears, auto stores, and regular grocery stores….
is wlamart your ‘boss’ ?
Better bring out the scary guys in their black gear that make them look big and provoking! The slaves are acting up again.
American Values are a hard thing to find a grip on. Read the lips of all our politicians, and they’re all about liberty and justice for all–all that jazz. Look out any window, and see head-busting riot squads working for the politicians, working over working Americans, trying to teach them all about Values. Happens all the time, happens whoever’s in office.
Maybe that’s why they want charter schools so bad, all them politicians, no matter who’s in office. Public Education doesn’t seem to be getting the American Values massage across.
r ap