Warehouse Workers for Justice Release Survey on Worker Conditions in Will County
Joliet, IL August 16, 2010
Over the past decade, Will County, Illinois has seen significant growth in development
around the goods movement, or logistics, industry. Located southwest of Chicago, with access to railroads, highways, and airports and an abundance of undeveloped land, the
county has attracted companies looking for a strategic location for the warehousing and
distribution functions of supply chain management.
The Bad Jobs in Goods Movement: Warehouse Work in Will Countysurvey, along with
data gathered from federal government sources, reveals that there is a range of jobs in
warehouses, including well-‐paying managerial positions. Yet the proportion of good
jobs to low-paying positions and, more strikingly, direct hire to temporary positions,
reveals that this industry is heavily reliant on a large low-wage labor force. Specifically,
the report found that the majority of warehouse workers were temps earning wages
below the federal poverty level.
This study was undertaken by Warehouse Workers for Justice to better understand
working conditions in the goods movement industry in Will County, IL. Warehouse
Workers for Justice is a workers center that promotes good jobs and fair working
conditions in the logistics industry. With technical assistance from researchers at the
University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, Warehouse
Workers for Justice carried out the first large-scale study of workers in warehousing in
the country.
Bad Jobs in Goods Movement: Warehouse Work in Will County is the result of more than
eight months of planning, researching, and data collection. Representing over 150
different warehouses, a sample of 319 workers was used for this report. In addition, in-
depth interviews were conducted with sixteen workers on specific topics that arose in the
standard survey, such as loaders and unloaders who perform “production” work.
The survey found:
- 63% of workers in warehouses were temps
- The majority of warehouse workers made poverty-‐level wages, and temps had it worse than direct hires. The median hourly wage for a temp was $9.00 an hour–$3.48 an hour less than direct hires
- 1 in 4 warehouse workers had to rely on government assistance to make ends meet for their families
- 37% of current warehouse workers had to work a second job to provide for their families
- Temps were far less likely to have basic benefits. For example, only 5% of temps had sick days and 4% had health insurance
- 20% warehouse workers had been hurt on the job. Of those, 1 in 3 were disciplined or fired when they reported their injury
Recommendations
Create a pathway to stable employment
Implement policies that require warehouse operators to provide stable, permanent jobs
with regular hours. Provide incentives for employers that employ warehouse workers
directly, rather than through temporary staffing agencies. Link taxpayer support to
warehouse operators and developers to the creation of direct-‐hire positions rather than
temp jobs.
Enact policies that promote living wage jobs
Link taxpayer support for the warehouse and logistics industry to the creation of
permanent, direct-‐hire jobs at living wages.
Strengthen and enforce laws that protect workers
Labor, anti-‐discrimination, wage and hour and health and safety laws should be strictly
enforced. The Illinois Day Labor and Temporary Services Act should be strengthened to
provide more severe penalties against temp companies that abuse workers’ rights under
the law. Anti-‐discrimination laws should be amended to provide greater penalties
against employers who discriminate based on race, gender and national origin.
Allow warehouse workers the right to organize
Policy makers should address the barriers faced by temp workers who want to unionize
in order to improve their working conditions. Warehouse workers should be educated
about the benefits of collective bargaining and resources should be made available to
assist workers in learning their rights under current law.
read the entire report
