News - All Departments and Unions

This is the news page for all IWW Departments and Unions. This page displays *all* news items from every Department and Union. To see news only from a particular Department, click on the Department title below.

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Workers Rights' Group Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Beverage Distributor Over Alleged Labor Violations

Submitted by intexile on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 8:23pm.
For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers

February 1, 2010

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Workers Rights' Group Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Beverage Distributor Over Alleged Labor Violations

Immigrant Workers Take a Stand for Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay

New York, NY-  A non-profit workers' rights organization filed a class action lawsuit on Friday alleging that a Queens-based drink distributor,
Beverage-Plus, is violating the rights of its immigrant workforce.
The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court on behalf of current and former delivery drivers and warehouse assistants who were allegedly denied minimum wage and overtime by Beverage-Plus, in addition to other rights violations.  The case is an effort of the Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative which is exposing abuses in NYC's food processing sector and was brought in association with law firm Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C.

"My co-workers and I work hard and now we are demanding to be paid according to the law," said Richard Merino, a member of Brandworkers who has been a driver at Beverage-Plus for six years.  "Wage theft is very damaging and we have chosen to tackle the problem by organizing together and taking collective action."

Lawyers for the workers will seek class certification to recover allegedly withheld compensation for current and former Beverage-Plus workers who have worked at the company in the last six years.  Maia Goodell and Anand Swaminathan of Vladeck Waldman are serving as lead counsel.

"Tens of thousands of recent immigrant workers labor out-of-sight in exploitative conditions processing and distributing food to New York's markets and restaurants," said Daniel Gross, the director of Brandworkers.  "Wage theft, abusive treatment, non-existent benefits, and hostility to organizing are endemic in the sector but workers' resolve to assert their rights is strong and growing.  Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain will press on until New York's food processing employees win respect for their human rights and just recognition for their important contribution to our economy and our community."

Brandworkers is a New York-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees.  By providing workers with legal, advocacy, and organizing tools, Brandworkers ensures employer compliance with the law and challenges corporate misconduct in the community.  The Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative promotes a sustainable food system where workers' human rights are respected.

A Cup of Union: Local baristas say the fight for better conditions is uphill but necessary.

Submitted by intexile on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 8:10pm.

By Eric Griffey - Fort Worth Weekly, February 3, 2010.

In late December, a small group of Starbucks employees blocked the drive-through window at the company's coffee shop at Rosedale Street and 8th Avenue for about 20 minutes, in protest of the rising cost of their healthcare insurance, low wages, and a litany of other issues. The protest signaled that a handful of local baristas had gone public with their association with the Starbucks Workers' Union - and it meant that, for a while on that afternoon, customers had to wait even longer than usual to get a cup of gourmet coffee. coverThe protesters said they didn't intend for the store to lose any business. They saw the move as a symbolic gesture, a message to the corporate coffee giant that they are willing to go to great lengths to improve their working environment. Although the protest hardly measured up to, say, the garbage workers strike in Fort Worth in 1999, it did get the company's attention. Organizers said that the company's top brass now has the Rosedale store under a microscope and that corporate officials visit frequently.

Fort Worth is the sixth city in the U.S. and the first in Texas to associate with the Starbucks Workers Union, which was started in 2004 under the umbrella of the Industrial Workers of the World, a century-old international union that takes a kind of class warfare approach and has had success in organizing in nontraditional industries, from bicycle messengers to food co-op workers.

Michelle Cahill, the group's organizer, said that she and others have seen firsthand the declining morale of their co-workers, as the company has been forced to make changes to cope with hard times.

The unhappy baristas feel as though the company, which is perennially listed on Forbes magazine's "best companies to work for" list, has lost its way, and is becoming more like a fast food chain - concentrating more on moving product than connecting with customers. "There are people in every store in the country who feel that the company isn't what it used to be," Cahill said.

But she said the union's goals have less to do with the overall direction of the company than with mistreatment of workers. Among their demands are better and cheaper healthcare, increased wages, more hours, and better working conditions.


Panhandlers Claim Victory

Submitted by intexile on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 7:49pm.

Originally posted here

Andrew Nellis of the Ottawa Pandhandlers Union said the group has reached a settlement after filing a $1-million lawsuit against the city last year.

The lawsuit accused the city of violating panhandlers' constitutional rights by putting up a fence at the underpass across from Chateau Laurier. Nellis ended up being charged after he snipped a lock off the fence.

On Tuesday, Nellis said the panhandlers and city reached a deal but an agreement on confidentiality prevented him from going into details. Sounded like the settlement might involve allowing the panhandlers to use some property for a street art gallery.

Nellis is claiming victory.

"It won't be the first victory we have, either," he said.

In the same breath, Nellis said the panhandlers group plans to sue the city again if an updated nuisance bylaw comes into force for roads and sidewalks. The bylaw passed the transportation committee meeting Wednesday.

 


Industrial Worker - Issue #1723, February/March 2010

Submitted by Diane on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 9:59pm.

Headlines:

  • Ft. Worth Starbucks Joins The One Big Union
  • FAU Struggle at Babylon Cinema
  • Bangladesh Garment Workers Rally for Human Rights

Features:

  • Special: IWW Delegation to Palestine
  • Obituaries: Goodbye FW Ray Jessop and Dennis Brutus
  • Why We Should Oppose The U.S. Occupation of Haiti

Download a free PDF copy of this issue.


Garment Workers in Bangladesh Celebrate MLK Day with the IWW, Pennsylvania Senators send Embassy’s Human Rights Officer

Submitted by Kenneth on Tue, 01/26/2010 - 8:44am.

By Jonathan Christiansen and Kenneth Miller

Jonathan Christiansen, a Delegate of the Boston IWW, is living in Bangladesh with his wife and son until July 2010. Before leaving for Bangladesh he spoke with Jason Fults and reviewed the reports from his time as ISC Delegate in Bangladesh. The 2009 ISC made Christiansen an ISC Delegate to Bangladesh in December. In early January the IWW hosted a conference call to discuss the best ways to support Jonathan’s efforts in Bangladesh. Members of the Pittsburgh Anti Sweatshop Community Alliance and Bjorn Claeson of SweatFree Communities were guest on the call. The call concluded with the participants agreeing on three projects:


After Hard-Fought Campaign, Workers Achieve Victory at Wild Edibles!

Submitted by intexile on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 5:07pm.

For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers

January 20, 2010

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Workers Reach Comprehensive Settlement with Prominent Seafood Company

Protracted Grassroots Campaign Saw Over 75 Leading Restaurants Stop Serving Wild Edibles Products

New York, NY- Lawyers filed with a federal bankruptcy judge a global settlement agreement totaling over $340,000 and containing strong workplace protections in a high-profile set of litigation brought by workers against one of New York's leading seafood companies, Wild Edibles, Inc.

The comprehensive settlement comes after a bitterly-contested campaign in which some two-dozen recent immigrant workers and their non-profit organization, Brandworkers, used grassroots actions, media advocacy, and community organizing in an effort to win legal accountability at Wild Edibles, which supplies seafood to some of NYC's most famed restaurants in addition to operating retail seafood outlets.

"We're on top of the world today because more than anything we showed that ordinary workers can get organized, take action together, and win," said Raymundo Lara Molina, a former Wild Edibles employee and member of Brandworkers.


Baristas Call on Starbucks to Honor Dr. King with March and Rally

Submitted by intexile on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 4:30pm.

For Immediate Release:
Industrial Workers of the World (NYC)


January 18, 2010

Contact: Liberte Locke, 917-693-7742

Baristas Call on Starbucks to Honor Dr. King with March and Rally

IWW demands that coffee giant pay workers the same premium it pays on other federal holidays

New York, NY- The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) branch here held a march and rally at Starbucks today to call on the corporation to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating his birth. The Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW is demanding that Starbucks pay a holiday premium to baristas who work on MLK Day just as the Seattle-based chain does for five other federal holidays.


Bay Area IWW Labor Protest - Recylcing Workers say "NO!" to management's proposed cuts! - Thursday, Jan 21, 2010

Submitted by intexile on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 2:48pm.

The IWW is engaged in contract discussions with the Ecology Center, which runs Curbside Recycling - the outfit that picks up recyclable trash in Berkeley. They have presented a series of demands for draconian cut backs.

This includes demanding that the workers pay 20% of the cost of their health insurance premiums. Their position is that everywhere else such cuts are being instituted and they have to do the same. Our position is that these cuts have to be stopped somewhere, or, to paraphrase Harry Truman, "the cuts stop here." At the same time, Buyback - the recycling yard that is on the same property as Curbside and also under IWW contract - has announced that they will be laying off a worker, a first there.

The IWW is holding a "safety meeting" rally to protest these twin events. This will be in their yard at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21. The yard is on 2nd Street, just north of Gillman in north Berkeley (near the freeway).

We are urging all  union members and supporters, students and community members to participate.