Food Safety Fight at Jimmy John's Escalates as Public Outcry Mounts over Mass Firing

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.iww.org/en/content/food-safety-fight-jimmy-johns-escalates-public-outcry-mounts-over-mass-firing

Posted Sat, 03/26/2011 - 12:02pm by intexile

Whistleblower Workers Pledge Action for Right to Call in Sick, Paid Sick Days

Jimmy John's Workers Union- Industrial Workers of the World

Contacts: David Boehnke, 651-315-4222 and Davis Ritsema, 612-281-9772

March 25, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS- Thousands of community supporters have jammed Jimmy John's phone lines and flooded the chain's Facebook page with messages of outrage and support for six whistleblowers who were fired for exposing widespread coercion to work while sick at the chain. Today, the workers have announced that they plan to escalate actions against Jimmy John's until their demands for the right to call in sick, paid sick days, and reinstatement of the fired workers are met.

“We will not be silenced. Speaking out against the policy of forcing workers to work while sick is not only our right, it is our duty. “ said Erik Forman, one of the fired sandwich workers. “The unfettered greed of franchise owner Mike Mulligan and Jimmy John himself jeopardizes the health of thousands of customers and workers almost every day. We will speak out until they realizes that no one wants to eat a sandwich filled with cold and flu germs.”

Under current policy, Jimmy John's workers are disciplined for calling in sick if they cannot find a replacement. In addition, many workers are unable to afford to take a day off if they are ill because wages at the sandwich chain hover around the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. The result of these pressures is that sandwich-makers often have to work while sick, creating an enormous public health risk.

FULL story at link.

For more information: http://www.jimmyjohnsworkers.org/

[drm604]

1. Are they going to have another vote?

When?

This shows that unions protect everybody. Unfair and unsafe working conditions can be bad for customers as well as workers. Customers benefit from healthy happy workers!

[aquart]

2. What other restaurant chains do this, also?

It never would have occurred to me to ask, but now I think we have to.

[Ed Suspicious]

3. All of them I've ever worked at.

[xmas74]

4. They all do.

Food service is the butt of the working world. If you are sick you'd better damn well have a replacement waiting to work for you. If you don't have one you can be written up.

I've done food service work whenever the job market was scarce (right now is an example) and every single job I've ever worked has had this policy. They will write you up for not showing up and they will terminate you if you even sniffle in front of the health department.