[New York Times] - Rare Vote Set on a Union in Fast Food
Submitted on Thu, 10/21/2010 - 5:06pm
Note and Disclaimer: - The writer of this article obviously doesn't understand the concepts of solidarity unionism, because the IWW has won many gains at Starbucks due to our constant campaigning and direct action strategies. Details can be found here.
This article is reposted according to Fair Use Guidelines:
By Steven Greenhouse - New York Times, October 20, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS — The Jimmy John’s restaurants here are known for serving attitude with their sandwiches. Many of their young workers wear nose rings, beards and dreadlocks, and the shops sport mottoes like “The Customer Is Usually Right” and “Subs So Fast You’ll Freak.”
But recently, the employees at the 10 shops here have started to exude more attitude than management would like. Some of the 200 workers wear T-shirts that say, “Wages So Low You’ll Freak,” and many are backing a campaign to unionize the shops, which compete with Subway and Quiznos.
The unionization drive is one of the few efforts to organize fast-food workers in American history. Employees will vote Friday, and if the union wins, organizers say they will seek to unionize fast-food workers in other cities.
The issues that have roused the Jimmy John’s workers are typical of what many low-end service-sector workers face: earning the $7.25-an-hour minimum wage or slightly above that, working unpredictable and often short shifts and dealing with their bosses’ wrath when they call in sick.
Most unions have shied away from trying to organize fast-food workers because the employees tend to be young, with high turnover. But that has not dissuaded the Industrial Workers of the World, which tried to organize workers at Starbucks coffee shops without success.
A century ago, the I.W.W. — better known as the Wobblies — was a swaggering, radical union with 100,000 members and legendary leaders like Mary Harris Jones (known as Mother Jones) and Big Bill Haywood. The union often clashed with police officers and Pinkerton security guards as it organized lumberjacks, dockworkers and miners.
These days, the Wobblies have just 1,600 members in the United States, and have union contracts with a handful of employers. But if they can flex their muscles anywhere, it may be in organizing the Jimmy John’s workers of Minneapolis. Union supporters say more than 60 percent of the workers signed cards asking for a unionization election.
“A union in fast food is an idea whose time has come,” said Emily Przybylski, a bike delivery worker at Jimmy John’s who is also a social work student at the University of Minnesota. “There are millions of workers in this industry living in poverty, with no consistent scheduling, no job security and no respect. It’s time for change.”
Mike Mulligan, the franchisee who owns the Jimmy John’s shops here, is pressing employees to vote against joining the I.W.W., which he says is a dangerous “socialist-anarchist organization” that “proudly preaches the overthrow of capitalism.”
“This is a group hellbent on bringing down someone, anyone, in the fast-food industry, and we just happened to be the next on the list,” said Mr. Mulligan, a retired senior vice president with Supervalu, a national grocery company.
But the I.W.W.’s radical past seems to appeal to the pro-union workers — some accuse Mr. Mulligan of red-baiting. They see the Wobblies as a proud link to America’s working-class history — a symbol of rage against the machine and an ancestor of the rebellious hip-hop culture that they love.
The Jimmy John’s chain, based in Champaign, Ill., has more than 1,000 shops nationwide. Mr. Mulligan’s 10 restaurants are spread throughout Minneapolis — in the Skyway, near the Nicollet pedestrian mall, and in Dinkytown, a university neighborhood that many music historians say inspired Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street.”
The stores are slick, sassy places, with bold red and black tiles, dozens of humorous signs, and a menu of two dozen sandwiches, including several $4.50, eight-inch subs.
Some workplace specialists view the unionization drive with skepticism. “It’s clearly an uphill battle,” said John W. Budd, a professor of industrial relations at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “It’s hard to unionize places like this because of the high turnover and because there are a lot of teen workers who don’t want to get involved.”
But Jen Thompson, a mother of two who earns $7.75 an hour as a sandwich maker, said that so many workers were upset with management that the union had an excellent chance. “The owners are definitely underestimating how many people support the union,” she said. “We’re tired of getting treated like garbage. We don’t get paid well, and we get horrible hours.”
Ms. Thompson, 22, whose husband also works at Jimmy John’s, said that they earned so little — she works just 12 hours a week — that her husband had joined the National Guard in part to bring in more money. One recent evening, after her car broke down, she asked her father to buy diapers for her 18-month-old because she was so financially stretched, she said.
One big complaint is how managers handle ill workers. When sandwich makers or delivery workers called in sick, several workers said, managers pressed them to find someone to take their shift. If they could not find a replacement, they were sometimes given a written reprimand. As a result, many employees have shown up to work while sick, the workers said.
Micah Buckley-Farlee, a bike delivery worker who earns $7.50 an hour plus several dollars an hour in tips, complained that management sometimes required workers to show up for three-hour lunch shifts, but then sent them home after 10 minutes or an hour when business was slow. Workers then were paid for just those short periods.
Mr. Buckley-Farlee, who has a collapsed lung condition, said that once when he felt a collapse was imminent, he called in sick and was told to find a replacement.
“I want a union for the little things — if you want a raise and the manager says no, you don’t have much redress,” he said. “And as for the big things like health coverage, you can’t get anywhere without a union.”
Mr. Mulligan said his franchise appeared to be the victim of left-wing activists who were looking for an employer to be a target. “This isn’t a situation where our employees decided they were treated unfairly and sought out union representation,” he said. He added that the Jimmy John’s activists include a veteran of the I.W.W.’s long effort to unionize Starbucks baristas.
Mr. Mulligan said he was an excellent employer who had hired many minority workers, promoted many workers into management and hired some ex-felons to help them get back on track. He said the fast-food industry was necessarily one of peak periods, part-time work and three-hour shifts. His company, he added, tells workers to stay home when they have the flu or another substantial illness.
The headquarters of Jimmy John’s backs Mr. Mulligan, saying, “Our franchisees offer competitive wages, and good local jobs with a stable, growing company, and they value their relationship with their employees.”
Neil Bailey, 29, a stockroom worker who earns $8 an hour after six years at Jimmy John’s, said he opposed the union.
“I’m worried that they won’t advocate for a wage increase, that they’ll advocate for profit-sharing or health care, which sadly the employer can’t provide because it would be far too expensive,” he said. “I’m worried the union would be happy to force a strike, and I don’t believe that is a desirable outcome if you’re working on behalf of the work force.”
Steven Smith, a 42-year-old meat cutter who earns $8.35 an hour after three years, also opposes the union. He said it would be difficult for Mr. Mulligan to pay much more than minimum wage because his competitors generally pay the same amount. “How much do you expect to get paid for making a baloney sandwich or cutting a pickle in half?” Mr. Smith said. “This is not rocket science.”