Where Would Dr. King Be Today?

I spent the afternoon in Joliet, IL. I heard the story of 70 workers who were fired from the Bissell warehouse for wanting to form a union.

One woman worker was 8 months pregnant, and was given no concessions by her employer, having to continue hard labor. Two workers can spend 5-8 hours to empty a 52' container, getting paid $16 each for the whole job. Since they're all temps, none have health insurance, no vacations, no holidays, and no guarantee of a job if they get injured and need time off before coming back to work. Women often get paid over $2 per hour less than their male colleagues. There are a few jobs that are closer to the living wage of $15/hour, but as you get higher in pay, the workers get more male and lighter in skin color.

The Warehouse Workers for Justice, in cooperation with interfaith religious and community leaders, are calling for a boycott of Bissell cleaning products. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but if we can all focus on Bissell first, it'll be a step in the direction of greater justice and mercy for all of God's children.

This my friends, is exactly where Dr. King would be today, because he cared so deeply about how we treat the least among us.