IWW Union Members Act in Solidarity with Workers Fired from Bissell Warehouse

Today, several members of the Grand Rapids Chapter of the IWW went to a Kohl’s store just off Alpine Avenue to draw attention to the 70 workers who were recently fired from a Bissell warehouse near Chicago.

Kohl’s is one of the largest sellers of Bissell products, so the union in Chicago (UE) was asking people to act in solidarity around the country. Since Bissell’s headquarters is in Walker, Michigan, the IWW decided to take action. They distributed a flyer to customers inside and outside of the Kohl’s store until Walker police were called and made them move off the property and onto a nearby road where people continued to hand out flyers and hold signs.

The campaign is calling on people to pressure the Bissell company to treat workers in their warehouses with dignity. According to the UE organizers workers at a Bissell warehouse near Chicago have been disrespected, pregnant women have been discriminated against, other workers have earned less than minimum wage and management has made threats against workers for attempting to organize.

Warehouse Workers for Justice is asking people contact Bissell CEO, Mark J. Bissell, to pressure him to reinstate the 70 workers that were recently fired. You can send an E-mail to ann.lamb@bissell.com (Director of Communications), call (616) 977-4341 or send a letter to:

Mark J. Bissell

2840 Pioneer Club Road SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Below is video with IWW members talking about the campaign and what happened at the Kohl’s store.