Firing of 5 Walmart Strikers Condemned by Rep. Ellison: 'Completely Unjust and Illegal'
Source: The Nation
Josh Eidelson
Update (4:45 PM EST, Saturday): Of the roughly one hundred Walmart workers who this month went on strike and traveled to Arkansas, OUR Walmart alleges that five have been fired, ten have received disciplinary “coachings,” and one has been suspended. Along with Lisa Lopez from Orlando, the other fired workers are from Miami, Chicago, and Lakewood, California. Organizers allege that one of workers was told directly that the termination was for striking, and that several of the “coachings” were identified as punishment for “unexcused absence” during the strike.
Asked about the firings of Walmart workers who went on strike, Congressman Keith Ellison told The Nation, “One, they are to be expected. Two they are completely unjust and illegal.” Ellison (DFL-MN), who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, added, “Power concedes nothing without a demand, and if these CEOs at these big companies are reaping ultra-profits out of the hard labor of these workers, they’re not about to give it up easily. So you’re going to have these retaliatory measures.” Ellison urged elected officials “to intervene and to really stick up for the workers,” and said that at the CPC, “we need to be much more engaged” on the issue of workplace retaliation. “Because people shouldn’t have to suffer in silence,” said Eliison, “and if people are willing to step out there, and to risk so much, they shouldn’t be alone.”
Reached over e-mail, Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) also slammed Lisa Lopez’s termination: “It’s ridiculous that WalMart would fire an employee for bringing WalMart’s own rule book to the job. Whom do they think they are fooling? Would WalMart fire me for bringing the Constitution to work?”
Reached over e-mail Saturday regarding the alleged retaliation, Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundberg said that fired workers Maria Roberty and Jovani Gomez were “terminated for violating the Walmart attendance policy – to suggest otherwise would be wrong and not based in fact.” Lundberg wrote that Lisa Lopez and a co-worker “were both coached recently for committing the same food safety violation at the same time.” Lundberg noted that Lakewood worker Nicole Mora “gave her two week notice” this week prior to her alleged retaliatory firing.
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