Joe is an IWW member.
On Tuesday, September 2nd, Joe Richard was fired from Ward's Supermarket. He
believes, as do his co-workers, that the firing was illegal and was direct
retaliation for his workplace organizing efforts. On August 8th, Joe and 14
other employees in the Natural Foods Department submitted a petition to
management requesting an increased employee discount (raising it to 20%, which
is not uncommon for the industry) and a regular schedule of employee performance
evaluations. Our petition was largely ignored for three weeks while the owners,
Billy and Trish Ward, went on vacation. After they returned, on August 25th they
held one-on-one meetings with the employees who signed the petition, elaborating
a new 'open door' policy, by which employees could have 100% access to
management if they had a concern or grievance. Beyond that, the requests listed
in our petition were largely ignored.
Little over a week later, Joe was
fired, ostensibly for 'stealing' a bag of coffee, which is donated by Sweetwater
Coffee Company explicitly for the personal use of Natural Foods Department
employees. This free coffee, which was and continues to be intentionally given
for employees to drink at work and take home, was routinely taken home and made
every morning by numerous Department employees, including Joe. To our knowledge,
no employee has ever been punished (either received written warnings or been
discharged) for the offense of taking home this free product, which the store
never paid a single cent for. Joe didn't receive a written warning (as the
employee handbook stipulates is appropriate for minor infractions) but was fired
two days after checking out with the coffee in hand (buying eggs and donuts as
well, on a Sunday morning).
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