On Labor Day, Jimmy John's Faces Coast to Coast Actions in Support of Nation's First-Ever Fast Food

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.iww.org/en/node/5178

Submitted by intexile on Wed, 09/08/2010 - 1:53pm.

Momentum Builds as Workers Seek Relief for Mounting Economic Frustration - jimmyjohnsworkers.org

MINNEAPOLIS- From Clovis, California to Miami, Florida, Jimmy John's was besieged coast to coast on Labor Day by leafleting and pickets in support of the first-ever unionization effort at the national sandwich chain. The emergent IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union is coordinating a National Week of Action against the company to reach out to workers and pressure Minneapolis franchise owners to meet with their employees, who moved to unionize on Thursday. Over the course of the week, actions are planned in 32 of 39 states in which the company operates.



“Working conditions are terrible- poverty wages, being forced to work while sick, inconsistent hours, management favoritism, the list goes on. We formed a union to fight for change, starting at Jimmy Johns today, and throughout the entire fast food industry tomorrow. These nationally-coordinated actions have shown company owner Jimmy John Liautaud that if he doesn't clean up his act, we'll take a bite out of his business,” said David Boehnke, a union member at Jimmy Johns.

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.

The fast food workers' move to unionize is emblematic of mounting frustration amongst US workers with the sluggish pace of recovery from the Recession. With unemployment rates hovering around 9.5%, many workers view low wage service jobs as their only option. Employment in the food service industry is expected to grow 8.4% from 2008 to 2018, higher than the 7.7% rate predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all industries. Wages and working conditions in the fast food industry are widely regarded as substandard; in 2009, about 17% of food workers earned at or below $5.15 an hour after taxes, the highest percentage of any occupational group.

FULL story at link.

[Missy Vixen]

1. Thank you for posting this

There is a JJ's in the same area as the Chipotle I really like to visit. I'm sorry I didn't know this was happening before today; I would have been proud to stand with JJ's employees in their efforts to be unionized.

We shop at a union grocery store. It costs more, but I know the employees are taken care of.

[JanMichael]

2. Oh it's just teens and the elderly and the unskilled types that work "those" jobs...

..."right"?

[Drale]

3. I dont know

all the jimmy johns around here are staffed by teenagers and teenageers are never going to unionize. Granted from what I have heard they do treat there employees like slaves but most places treat teens like that its unforanite but I dont see it changing anytime soon.

[nashville_brook]

4. this could be a big step. $5 an hour should be criminal.

[mistertrickster]

5. This is how it starts. Unions are the only thing that can save the middle class.

That's why Reagan and the CONs hate them with every fiber of their being, and almost succeeded in destroying them.

[m00nbeam]

6. +1,000

[Sinistrous]

7. How do we get a similar movement going in the

Nursing Home / Long Term Care industry?

[Omaha Steve]

8. Email the SEIU etc.

http://www.seiu.org/2010/09/victory-in-midwest-nearly-600-missouri-hospital-workers-join-seiu.php

Victory in Midwest! Nearly 600 Missouri Hospital Workers Join SEIU

11:17 AM Eastern - September 3, 2010

By SEIU Healthcare

CONNECT photo 1-MODIFIED.jpg

By a more than 2-to-1 margin, workers at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, MO voted this week to make SEIU Healthcare Missouri/Kansas their union. The landslide victory, with a vote of 285 to 136, unites nearly 600 more HCA-affiliated hospital workers in SEIU Healthcare. They join the workers at Kansas City-area Menorah Medical Center who joined SEIU just weeks ago.

"The election was a very moving experience," remarked Arthur Dawkins, an EVS Tech at Research Medical Center. "This week a majority of us stood together and with a united voice we said to management that we want to sit down and talk about improvements."

Already, workers are filling out contract surveys and talking about their priorities for bargaining.

[Sinistrous]

9. Will do. Thank you.