At 5 AM PST today, non-union workers moving Walmart goods at a California warehouse plan to launch a two-day surprise strike in protest of alleged retaliation for exposing safety risks. Organizers expect at least thirty of the warehouse’s two hundred-some employees to join the work stoppage, the latest in a wave of Walmart supply chain strikes.

“I’m scared because I need to work for my family’s sake,” employee Miriam Garcia told The Nation in Spanish. Garcia said she worried that the strike could cost her her job. “But I don’t want me or my co-workers to keep working in these conditions.”

The Mira Loma, California, warehouse is operated by Olivet International, an apparel and luggage company. Employees say management told them in a mandatory meeting that about 70% of the product the facility moves is for Walmart, and workers charge that the retail giant bears responsibility for alleged abuse there. As The Nation has reported, Walmart has faced increasing scrutiny over labor conditions of sub-contracted workers in its supply chain, both within the United States and abroad. “I think they have a lot of responsibility,” warehouse worker Heidi Baizabal said in Spanish. “They need to see the conditions we’re working in. Because even though we don’t work directly for Walmart, we’re moving their merchandise.”

Olivet did not respond to Monday or Tuesday requests for comment regarding the workers’ allegations. Reached by e-mail Tuesday, a Walmart spokesperson did not directly address the safety or intimidation allegations, but said the warehouse “isn’t a Walmart or Walmart dedicated facility.”

Read more: Warehouse Workers Moving Walmart Baggage Will Strike Today | The Nation http://www.thenation.com/blog/175407/warehouse-workers-moving-walmart-baggage-will-strike-today#ixzz2ZyJReBhy