Update: Amazon workers join labor rally at Joliet warehouse

About 15 Amazon workers joined a rally and march held outside one of the company’s two Joliet warehouses Tuesday.

The event was billed by organizers as a walkout, although workers appeared to be taking permitted personal time to participate in the rally organized by Warehouse Workers for Justice. According to an Amazon spokesperson, about 10 employees left during a scheduled lunch break and returned to work.

More than 40 people, including Teamsters and members of the Chicago Teachers Union, waited for the workers to come out of the warehouse outside the entrance to Amazon’s MDW2 facility off Route 52.

Workers said they sent a petition with more than 600 signatures to the CEO of Amazon on Tuesday calling for safer working conditions and better pay.

“They can afford to keep us safer and give us raises that we definitely deserve,” Amazon worker Montrell Oliver said at the rally.

Workers want pay increased to $25 an hour. They said they now start at $18 an hour.

The rally follows other developments at the warehouse since a death threat using the N-word was written on a bathroom wall in May.

“They want a threat-free environment, and they want a changed safety policy,” Tori Davis, a former worker at the warehouse, said at the rally.

Workers in July filed complaints about conditions at the warehouse with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Complaints included claims that two workers had worn confederate insignia on the job.

The 15 or so workers who came out of the warehouse to join the rally marked “a big step,” said Andrew Herrera with Warehouse Workers for Justice.

“Workers are very concerned,” Herrera said. “They’re concerned about retaliation. Whether that’s a real threat or not, that’s a perceived threat.”

Speakers included Kevin Herrera, legal director for the Raise the Floor Alliance, who advised workers of their rights.

“You are legally protected,” Herrera told the workers, although he added that they were “taking a big risk stepping out.”

Amazon workers got a boost from Gov. JB Pritzker who tweeted, “I stand in solidarity with the Amazon workers in Joliet, IL who walked off the job today to demand higher wages, an end to racial discrimination, & safer working conditions. In Illinois, we support working people and will fight to ensure every workplace recognizes their dignity.”

Warehouse Workers for Justice Executive Director Marcos Ceniceros said workers were exercising their rights under Section 7 or the National Labor Relations Act.

Section 7 spells out workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively through a representative.

Ceniceros said workers are organizing to seek better pay and working conditions, but they have not started an effort to unionize the Joliet facility.

“We are supporting workers with whatever they need to have their voices heard,” he said.

Several Teamsters union members also were at the rally, including organizer Caprelle Evans.

“We’re working with Warehouse Workers for Justice,” Evans said. She said the Teamsters were not organizing a union at the warehouse but are helping “workers to fight for better working conditions.”

Among the issues cited by workers is that Amazon has installed metal detectors but only scans workers as they leave the warehouse, not as they come in.

“Even when we’re being threatened, Amazon is only worried about us stealing a few dollars worth of merchandise, not our lives,” Amazon worker Destiny Collins said in a news release issued about the Tuesday rally. “To them, the only thing that’s disposable in the warehouse is us.”

Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait issued a statement saying, “We value employee feedback and are always listening. We’re investing $1 billion over the next year to permanently raise hourly pay for frontline employees and we’ll continue looking for ways to improve their experience.”

According to Amazon, average pay for employees is more than $19 an hour and ranges between $16 and $26 an hour depending on location. Benefits include health, vision and dental insurance, a 401(k) with 50% company match, and other benefits include pre-paid college tuition.