Submitted on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 4:41am
Five workers from Top City Produce were recently fired from their jobs. The “Gang of Five” – Osvaldo, Mario, Diego, Esau, and Carlos – have been some of the strongest and most active members of the IWW since they joined the union almost two years ago.
After one of the workers was suspended on Saturday, the other four approached the boss in an attempt to discuss the situation. On Monday morning, the boss told them all to wait outsede and then never allowed them back in. They continue to be locked out.
Before joining the union, Top City workers consistently pulled 72-hour weeks with no overtime and no benefits. Conditions improved once the shop went union. Workers filed a lawsuit against Top City for wage violations and negotiated a contract with the boss. They were waiting for the boss to sign the contract when they were fired without warning on Monday.
Submitted on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 12:48am
The San Francisco Bay Area Branch was out in full force this Saturday on the picket line in solidarity with striking workers at Metro Lighting, Berkeley's now infamously "green" lighting business.
Highlights included songs, chants, lots of honking and the owner, Lawrence Grown, posting a profile of a sociopath in the window. (We assume that he was warning customers of his presence!!!) Many customers chose not to cross the picket line and were directed to other Berkeley lighting businesses, but those that dared to cross the picket line were loudly booed and resorted to leaving shamefully out the back door.
Workers at Metro Lighting are striking over the unfair labor practices of the owners, Lawrence and Christa Grown, who last month fired one of their workers for labor organizing and whistle blowing over unsafe working conditions. They are demanding that all union workers be rehired with back wages and a pay raise for the retail workers who make almost half as much as their co-workers in the assembly shop in the back.
Please come out this Saturday in support of our fellow workers at Metro Lighting from noon to five. The business is located at 2121 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley just south of University. For those who cannot attend, please make sure to call them at 1-888-METRO20 or email them at [email protected] and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere.
Submitted on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 3:52am
Originally published at Media Mouse
On Friday, the Starbucks Workers Union--a union affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and formed in response to Starbucks' mistreatment of its baristas--held a press conference outside of Starbucks' Wealthy Street store in East Grand Rapids to respond to charges filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the company. The charges included allegations that store employees were denied access to a store bulletin board that was previously open after an employee posted union materials, that a store manager threatened employees with "discharge and unspecified reprisals" if they engaged in union activities, and that they failed to change employee handbooks to indicate that employees could wear union buttons and have union literature based on a 2006 settlement in New York City.
Submitted on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 3:40am
By Chris Knape - Friday, September 28, 2007, The Grand Rapids Press
EAST GRAND RAPIDS -- The National Labor Relations Board is expected to decide by today if it will file charges against a Starbucks in Gaslight Village over allegations it violated employee rights to organize a union.
The NLRB is waiting to see if the coffee giant is willing to settle the charges, which included allegedly restricting the distribution of organizing materials and threatening to fire employees involved in unionizing efforts.
"Unless the matter is settled in the next day or two, we'll take further action," said Stephen Glasser, director of the NLRB's Region 7.
Submitted on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 10:58pm
Union workers at Metro Lighting are resuming picketing today as they strike over the company's unfair labor practices. One union worker was fired last week for both union organizing and raising concerns over workplace exposure to toxic chemicals. The other workers are striking over the company's repeated violations of federal and state labor law and are demanding that all union workers be allowed to return to work.
Fired worker Gabe W. describes the behavior of Metro Lighting owners Lawrence and Christa Grown: "In the process of organizing, the boss made the environment very hostile. He would not negotiate on any terms and started retaliating from that point on. He hired union-busting attorneys, started harassing us at work and started surveillance of us. Our working conditions changed and the employee manual was re-written 3 or 4 times since we started organizing. New rules were made up, our hours were changed, our health care was cut."
Metro Lighting workers have been organizing with the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, and are fighting for a sustainable wage for all workers, safe working conditions and an end to the age discrimination that has resulted in thousands of dollars in lost wages to one worker in his 60s.
Metro Lighting owners have shown no willingness to negotiate with the union employees. In an attempt to crush the morale of the union workers, they locked them out for over three weeks and claimed to have closed the business due to a "family emergency". The business was clearly open, however, as they were taking appointments through their website or over the phone and have had scabs working in both the retail store and workshop the whole time.
Metro Lighting union workers are asking the community to come out and picket with them in solidarity this week and to let Metro Lighting know that Berkeley won't tolerate a business that is unfair to labor!
For more information, contact Gabe at 510-395-1324.
