Starbucks Union

WorldChanging Team: Looking back two and five years ago today on Worldchanging: 2009 How Much Does Transportation Really Cost? Hassan Masum explores the true cost of transportation...

The International Solidarity Commission of the Industrial Workers of the World is deeply concerned about current repression and detention of workers and activists in Bangladesh. At the current moment, we especially highlight the situation of Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity NGO (BCWS), and demand that she be released from detention, all charges against her be dropped, and that the NGO status of the BCWS be immediately reinstated. Responding to the government?s cruel and insulting offer of merely $43 a month minimum wage, in the country with the lowest garment wages in the world, Bangladeshi workers took to the streets for five days. The workers were met with the full force of the Bangladeshi police and security forces, in the service of the bosses.read more

LabourStart headline - Source: ITUC

LabourStart headline - Source: AFL-CIO

LabourStart headline - Source: CNN-IBM

LabourStart headline - Source: Times Live

LabourStart headline - Source: BWI

Amanda Reed: You may have already seen renderings of the 'Straddling Bus' when the concept made headlines last month. Now, chinadialogue has posted a six and...

Amanda Reed: Worldchanging's Executive Editor Alex Steffen has long touted the benefits of product backstories -- see "Principle 1: The Backstory" or "Spinach, Feedlots and Knowing the...

Amanda Reed: Let's start out this link round-up with a hopeful proposition: "America can become vastly more efficient, and we can do it thanks to our track...

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.read more

By Brent Ashcroft - WZZM13.com, September 6, 2010 Grand Rapids, Mi. (WZZM) - Demands for improvements to working conditions have some Jimmy John's employees unionizing around the nation. One West Michigan location will be a test-ground on Labor Day. About twenty I.W.W (Industrial Workers of the World) members, from the Grand Rapids chapter, will picket in front of the Wealthy St. Jimmy John's Monday from noon to 1pm, representing the franchise's employees across the nation who feel they're underappreciated in the workplace, in support of the Jimmy John's labor dispute in Minneapolis which started it all. "A lot of Jimmy John's workers are asked to work one and two hour shifts, or are expected to put wear and tear on their vehicles without compensation," says Cole Dorsey, Grand Rapids organizer of the I.W.W. "It's difficult to get sick days or to get job-related workman's compensation [from Jimmy John's management]." So, Dorsey and the rest of the Grand Rapids I.W.W. will represent area Jimmy John's employees in protest Monday. Leafleting and picketing is planned for 32 of the 39 states in which Jimmy John's operates. Minneapolis Jimmy John's co-owner, Mike Mulligan said in a statement last week: "We are very proud of our employment record in Minneapolis and take issue with the claims of the I.W.W. We value our relationship with our employees and offer competitive wages and good local jobs. We are dedicated to providing a fair, equal and diverse workplace environment." Dorsey, and his I.W.W. members, don't see it that way. "Sexual harrassment, better pay, benefits for non-managerial employees - that's what the union workers, the sisters and brothers in Minneapolis, want from us on Labor Day," says Dorsey. read more

Amanda Reed: Plumpy'nut is a vitamin-enriched mash that's designed specifically to help malnourished children return to health. It can be made with local ingredients, side-steps problems of...

By Daniel Gross, Z Net - September 6, 2010 With the political elites and professional pundits awaiting President Obama's proposal to boost the economy next week, a far more compelling path to safeguard the financial health of working families emerged in an unlikely place. Whichever tepid government plan moves forward won't alter, in the long run, the economic decline of America's hard-working men and women. Because the problems facing this country's working class are problems that government can't and certainly won't fix - can't because the problem is a lack of self-organization among working people and won't because the politicians side with the monied interests who fund their campaigns, not with workers. Look for the Union Label So the well-intentioned people calling for this or that economic initiative from the President next week, ought to look instead to the good folks who prepare and serve sandwiches at the Minneapolis locations of national fast food chain, Jimmy John's. (If you live in one of the 11 states that the company hasn't expanded to yet and haven't heard of it, you can think of the Jimmy John's brand as Subway with an irreverent, college-town vibe). The solution implemented by the Jimmy John's workers is both beguiling in its simplicity and stunning in its power. They decided not to petition government, run away from a bad situation and find another bad job, or keep making futile pleas as individuals for change from their bosses. On September 2, in anticipation of Labor Day weekend, workers at nine Minneapolis Jimmy John's stores announced that they had formed a member-run union with the most innovative labor organization in the country, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The workers are seeking to create good jobs at Jimmy John's instead of the minimum wage gigs with no benefits and fluctuating schedules that currently prevail at the chain. By the way, the corporate public relations-speak for these kinds of jobs was ably demonstrated by Rob and Mike Mulligan, the owners of the nine Minneapolis Jimmy John's locations. The millionaire Mulligan brothers angrily reacted to the workers' decision to organize by explaining that they, “offer competitive wages and good local jobs.” So remember, next time fast food executives talk about “competitive wages”, they mean minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour. “Good” means the jobs are good for the boss's bank account. And “local” means the company executives were kind enough not to outsource the sandwich making function to China or India.read more

WorldChanging Team: Looking back one, two and five years ago today (give or take!) on Worldchanging: 2009 New Resource: The Living Planet City Christa Morris reports on...

LabourStart headline - Source: ICEM

LabourStart headline - Source: Bloomberg

Jimmy Johns Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World) - Contact: Jake Foucault, 612-508-4310. Spirited Sandwich Workers Roll Out Innovative Tactic to Move Mulligans to Meet MINNEAPOLIS: Uptown echoed with union chants and singing Saturday night as Jimmy Johns workers arrived with a surprise bicycle picket at Calhoun Square, bringing business at the store to a near halt. The job action comes two days after Jimmy Johns workers at all nine Minneapolis franchise locations announced the formation of a union and demanded talks wit owners Mike and Rob Mulligan over labor conditions at the chain. So far, the Mulligan have refused to meet with their employees. "All we're asking is for the Mulligans to meet with us. If they're going to disrespect us by refusing to even talk to us, then they're in for a bumpy ride. The pressure won't stop until they meet our demands for more than minimum wage, sick days, and basic fairness," said Jake Foucault, a delivery driver at Jimmy Johns. In response to the Mulligan's refusal to meet, the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union announced on Friday that the chain will face a National Week of Action beginning Labor Day, with leafleting and picketing planned in 32 of 39 states in which the company operates. In Minneapolis, the Union plans a major Labor Day rally at 3pm at University and Pleasant in Dinkytown featuring hip hop icons I Self Divine and Guante. The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, 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.read more

Amanda Reed: There are three interesting conferences coming up in the design world this month (see below for details). If you are planning to go to any...

LabourStart headline - Source: UNITEHere!