Clergy and other religious leaders will conduct a press conference on Martin Luther King Day (Monday, Jan. 18) to announce a boycott of Bissell products. Their goal is to secure justice for a group of Bissell warehouse workers who were fired last year when they blew the whistle on violations at the warehouse near Joliet.
The group has been meeting with workers involved in Warehouse Workers for Justice, an organization that is raising concerns over violations of workers' rights in the warehouse industry.
"Dr. King called for workers to have decent wages, fair working conditions and respect" said Rev. Craig Purchase of Mt. Zion Tabernacle in Joliet, one of the organizers of the event. "How can we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King without addressing the injustice that exists in our backyard?" he asked. "As a community of faith we must demand justice for our sisters and brothers."
Workers at the warehouse were fired en masse after blowing the whistle on company practices and filing legal complaints over the many violations of state and federal law in the warehouse, and after informing management that they were organizing with UE to form a union in the warehouse.
A delegation of pastors from Joliet approached Bissell and warehouse management on November 4 about the retaliation that workers were facing, but the manager refused to talk with them.
The religious leaders will hear from workers about problems in the warehouse industry and are calling for religious groups to boycott Bissell in support of the fired workers.