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NLRB Rules Union Canvasser Fired Illegally By Sisters’ Camelot, Orders Back Pay, Reinstatement

This past Friday, September 25, the National Labor Relations Board issued a new ruling regarding the struggle between the IWW Sisters’ Camelot Canvass Union and their former bosses at Sisters’ Camelot.

This new ruling reverses the 2013 ruling by an administrative law judge which stated the workers at Sisters’ Camelot were not protected under the National labor Relations Act because they were independent contractors. With this decision being reversed, Sisters’ Camelot is ruled to have violated labor law when they fired Canvass Union member shugE Mississippi while on strike in 2013 as part of their union-busting campaign.

This new ruling also uses the same argument to clarify that Sisters’ Camelot violated labor law when they refused to negotiate with their worker’s union, and again when they offered concessions to workers if they were to abandon bargaining collectively as a union.

The ruling orders that Sisters’ Camelot formally apologize, offer Mississippi his job back, pay him back pay, and remove all language in their records and workplace trying to justify the illegal firing.

“This is fantastic news! After over two years on strike, it’s great to get the recognition that our union deserves and see Sisters’ Camelot finally held accountable for union-busting,” stated Canvass Union member Maria Wesserle.

“Now no one can argue that the bosses at Sisters’ Camelot are anything more than union-busters. It’s great to hear that their lawyer’s argument to get them off on technicalities ultimately failed,” said Canvass Union member Bridget Laurenson.

When asked his thoughts about the ruling shugE Mississippi stated: “This ruling upholds the validity of our strike against corrupt bosses. Remember: Hippy scabs are still scabs.”

The Sisters’ Camelot Canvass Union has been on strike since March 1st 2013 and a complete boycott of Sisters’ Camelot called by the Twin Cities IWW has been in effect since May 6th, 2014 after enduring a violent attack during a picket of Sisters’ Camelot. The Sisters’ Camelot Canvass Union is a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a revolutionary labor union founded over a century ago for all working people.