Jimmy Johns workers organizing over pay, working conditions (feature & photos)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4609

6 September 2010

MINNEAPOLIS - The TV commercial for sandwich maker Jimmy Johns features the tagline: “Call Jimmy Johns!” On Labor Day, Jimmy Johns workers in Minneapolis announced they’re making a call of a different sort – for a union.

Supporters of the Jimmy Johns Workers Union in 32 states are taking to the streets in an unprecedented National Week of Action to pressure Minneapolis franchise owner MikLin enterprises to meet with their workers, the union announced.

In Minneapolis, union members and supporters rallied 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.



Hip hop artists performed at the rally Monday (above), then participants picketed outside a Minneapolis Jimmy Johns sandwich shop.

Photos by Deborah Rosenstein



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 said 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.

FULL story and more at link.

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