EZ Supply Workers Win Reinstatement
Submitted on Fri, 01/18/2008 - 9:21pm
By Stephanie Basile, January 15, 2008
An NLRB judge recently ruled in favor of the IWW in the case of 13 workers who were terminated from EZ Supply last winter. The workers were ordered to be reinstated and paid backwages. The amount of backwages is to be determined at a compliance hearing that will take place in the near future.
Throughout 2006, the IWW had multiple bargaining sessions with EZ Supply Corp. In December of that year, the company changed its name to Sunrise Plus and fired the IWW members from the shop. The judge’s decision concluded that Sunrise Plus was an alter ego EZ Supply and that the workers were fired due to union activity.
Though the ruling is a symbolic victory, IWW organizer Billy Randel says it’s too soon to tell if the decision will be challenged down the road. So far EZ Supply has not appealed the case, but it has until January 25th to do so.
Complications could also arise from the fact that different sectors of the NLRB have differing interpretations of the law, especially with the current anti-union appointees working at the federal level. When the IWW won a reinstatement case against Handy Trading four months ago, it was the NLRB themselves who decided to appeal the case.
http://www.wobblycity.org/current/news_letter.cgi