Submitted on Mon, 09/13/2010 - 2:58am
Staff Report - WorkDay Minnesota, Monday 13th September 2010
MINNEAPOLIS - Jimmy John's franchise owners Mike and Rob Mulligan awoke to an unpleasant surprise last week as employees disrupted construction of the newest store in the chain with picket lines.
The picketing sandwich workers appealed to members of Minneapolis building trades unions working on the new store to down their tools until the Mulligans agree to meet with the newly-formed Jimmy Johns Workers Union.
“If Mike and Rob Mulligan have $300,000 to open another Jimmy Johns, then they have the money to meet our demands for a decent wage, consistent hours, and basic fairness at work. If they're not going to meet with us, then we have no choice but to hit them where it hurts. We are happy with the outcome of today's action– construction at the site was delayed for about an hour,” said Davis Ritsema, a member of the union.
Most construction workers employed under a union contract in Minnesota have the right to refuse to cross picket lines. Under Minnesota state law, motor vehicles are required to come to a complete stop at picket lines so that picketers can appeal to the driver not to cross the line.
The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, is the first fast food union in the nation, and is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Gaining prominence in recent years for organizing Starbucks workers, the IWW is a global union founded over a century ago for all working people.
Submitted on Fri, 09/10/2010 - 4:46am
By Jeff Smith - GRIID, September 6, 2010
Today, 10 members of the local chapter of the IWW and a few supporters stood in the rain outside of the Jimmy John’s restaurant in Eastown today to show support for a new national effort to unionize fast food restaurant chain in the US.
IWW members received primarily positive responses from people walking and driving by the Jimmy John’s location on Wealthy Street near the intersection of Lake Dr and Wealthy.
Despite sending out a Media Release to dozens of local news agencies, the only coverage of the solidarity picket came from Indy media sources, GRIID and a citizen journalist with the Rapidian. WZZM 13 did run a story about the planned picket yesterday, but no commercial news agencies showed up today, despite the obvious tie in to Labor Day.
Submitted on Wed, 09/08/2010 - 1:53pm
Momentum Builds as Workers Seek Relief for Mounting Economic Frustration - jimmyjohnsworkers.org
MINNEAPOLIS- From Clovis, California to Miami, Florida, Jimmy John's was besieged coast to coast on Labor Day by leafleting and pickets in support of the first-ever unionization effort at the national sandwich chain. The emergent IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union is coordinating a National Week of Action against the company to reach out to workers and pressure Minneapolis franchise owners to meet with their employees, who moved to unionize on Thursday. Over the course of the week, actions are planned in 32 of 39 states in which the company operates.
“Working conditions are terrible- poverty wages, being forced to work while sick, inconsistent hours, management favoritism, the list goes on. We formed a union to fight for change, starting at Jimmy Johns today, and throughout the entire fast food industry tomorrow. These nationally-coordinated actions have shown company owner Jimmy John Liautaud that if he doesn't clean up his act, we'll take a bite out of his business,” said David Boehnke, a union member at Jimmy Johns.
The national corporate headquarters of Jimmy Johns has yet to respond to the unionization campaign, the first at the expanding sandwich empire. The union effort could have profound implications for other employers in the fast food industry, a sector known for the lowest rate of unionization– and lowest wages– in the United Sates. Only 1.8% of food service workers were represented by a union in 2009, far below the nation-wide figure of 12.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The fast food workers' move to unionize is emblematic of mounting frustration amongst US workers with the sluggish pace of recovery from the Recession. With unemployment rates hovering around 9.5%, many workers view low wage service jobs as their only option. Employment in the food service industry is expected to grow 8.4% from 2008 to 2018, higher than the 7.7% rate predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all industries. Wages and working conditions in the fast food industry are widely regarded as substandard; in 2009, about 17% of food workers earned at or below $5.15 an hour after taxes, the highest percentage of any occupational group.
Submitted on Tue, 09/07/2010 - 4:12pm
IWW members met in St. Paul, Minnesota this past weekend for the annual IWW General Convention. Wobblies from the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany gathered to discuss union business, vote on constitutional amendments and resolutions, and of course to meet and get to know one another! The convention took place at Macalester College.
In addition to attending the convention, wobblies participated in a picket outside one of the Twin Cities' nine Jimmy John's locations on Saturday.
Submitted on Mon, 09/06/2010 - 3:09pm
Still no response from corporate headquarters
MINNEAPOLIS - In the true spirit of Labor Day, supporters of the Jimmy Johns Workers Union in 32 states nationwide will take to the streets in an unprecedented National Week of Action to pressure Minneapolis franchise owner MikLin enterprises to meet with their workers.
In Minneapolis alone, more than 200 union members and supporters are expected to rally at the University of Minnesota for a performance by local hip-hop stars I Self Divine and Guante, followed by a march on two area stores.
The Minneapolis Jimmy Johns Workers Union, the first chapter in the country, is riding high on the momentum of several days of successful demonstrations and pickets in Minneapolis with crowds in the hundreds.
The union says actions will intensify as long as owner Mike Mulligan and General Manager Rob Mulligan refuse to meet with the union. “The Mulligans need to know that we aren't just hard-working employees, but students and parents; real people with real concerns. These are our lives. We're tired of being ignored and degraded at job after low wage job. We're tired of being expendable,” said Jake Foucalt, a union member in Minneapolis. “The pressure will continue to build until we are listened to.”
The national corporate headquarters of Jimmy Johns has yet to respond to the unionization campaign, the first at the expanding sandwich empire. The union effort could have profound implications for other employers in the fast food industry, a sector known for the lowest rate of unionization– and lowest wages– in the United Sates. Only 1.8% of food service workers were represented by a union in 2009, far below the nation-wide figure of 12.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A person working 30 hours a week on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 would make $3260 below the federal poverty line for a family of two. Jimmy Johns pays minimum wage and maintains a corporate policy of discouraging managers from scheduling workers more than 20 hours per week.
