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Walmart workers on strike

DCblogger's picture
Submitted by DCblogger on Thu, 10/04/2012 - 12:59pm

Employees protesting working conditions and retaliation are flexing their organizing muscle. But the first-of-its-kind strike carries risks

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wuming's picture
Submitted by wuming on

This made my day. The cooperation between the retail store workers and the distribution workers is very important. This is because the distribution centers are the critical points in the system. Thus, the workers in those centers have power to cost Walmart a lot of money.

Distribution centers have to be located in certain geographic areas that are served by major highways and rail hubs. It's not easy to move those infrastructure pieces, so it's not so easy to pick up and move the center. There's a good book that discusses the infrastructure/distribution relationship, called Train Time by Stilgoe.

wuming's picture
Submitted by wuming on

It didn't get a lot of press in the media but EGT settled with the Longshoreman's union (ILWU) rather than face a port shutdown, after seeing what happened in Oakland.

I will say that though I had (and have) major differences with some of the key OO people involved in organizing Longview and the Port Shutdown, they did achieve something in supporting the ILWU's struggle. It's kind of sad that on the day that the GA executed the media committee purge, I had actually planned on going down and expressing that sentiment.

One of the reasons the ILWU has so much leverage is because of the JIT supply chains. Those supply chains are fragile, witness the Thailand flood effects on consumer electronics.

lambert's picture
Submitted by lambert on

Those fools are parading around chanting "Fuck the police!" when they've got the jugular passing right through the port and non-violent methods got tens of thousands of people outo and shut down the port.

The Thailand flood is an excellent metaphor.

Alexa's picture
Submitted by Alexa on

"Today, for the first time in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history, workers at multiple stores are out on strike."

This is incredible, especially if you've ever known anyone who's worked at a Wal-Mart. These folks are truly heroes. I just hope that they don't suffer any retaliation.