To a casual observer, Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ) seems like a thriving organization, with a reported operating budget of $3 million, multiple high-profile projects in the Chicago area, a staff union that received voluntary recognition earlier this year, and an influx of new hires. However, behind closed doors, WWJ employees are experiencing a different picture.

Management has stalled bargaining of our first union contract by refusing to meaningfully discuss our anti-discrimination contract proposals – proposals that would protect our members from racial, sexual, gender-based, disability-based, and xenophobic harassment and violence in the workplace. We have been told that robust anti-discrimination protections are “pie in the sky”, and unnecessary for an organization like WWJ. But we believe that we deserve the kind of workplace that we fight for in the warehouses and distribution centers where WWJ organizes: one where we can work free from fear and discrimination.

On June 30, 2022, two Black and Brown union leaders (and four other temporary staff members) will be laid off as one of WWJ’s major grants reaches expiration. Both organizers facing a layoff are essential members of the small team that leads important campaigns for environmental and worker justice in Will and Cook Counties. Replacing the foundational organizers that built the groundwork for these campaigns will shock and ultimately change the course of WWJ’s community and worker organizing. We are devastated by the lack of sustainable funding for the critical work we do in our community, and demand fair severance for our union brothers and sisters facing layoff.

The members of the Warehouse Workers for Justice Union (WWJU) want to keep leading the fight for worker and environmental justice in the Chicagoland area, but we can’t do that without a fair contract that protects all of our workers!

By signing below, you can support the WWJU in our fight for:

✊ Respectful and fair treatment for all WWJ workers

✊ Robust anti-discrimination protections for all WWJ workers

✊ Sustainable funding for all WWJ workers

✊ Fair severance for all WWJ workers when funding sources expire