NYC iu460

NYC iu460

Storied Village Eatery Will Stop Purchasing Seafood from Wild Edibles Until Workers' Rights are Respected

Posted Fri, 07/11/2008 - 2:23am by x344543

Immigrant Workers Seeking a Better Future for their Families Score Victory.

E-Z Supply Ordered to Pay IWWs $1 Million: An IU 460 Legal Update

Posted Mon, 06/02/2008 - 9:57pm by x360279

From the Industrial Worker, June 2008
Since the IWW Industrial Union 460 began organizing in foodstuffs warehouses 3 years ago, we’ve organized in ten workplaces with varying degrees of success. One issue at every shop has been the employer’s failure to comply with wage and hour laws.

Many companies have retaliated by firing workers for their union activity. Workers have fought back through strikes, pickets, demonstrations, and selective legal action, among other tactics. We find legal action to be most effective when combined with these other methods, and when viewed as a means and not an end. This is a report on our legal status, but readers should understand that legal action is one of many tools workers are using to win their demands.

About a year and a half after we began utilizing legal action, several favorable rulings have recently come down and several settlements have been reached. Since the rulings have just came down, companies have not yet begun making payments.

20 Fired from Flaum in NYC

Posted Fri, 05/30/2008 - 1:44pm by x344543
Flaum Appetizing, a kosher food distributor, terminated 20 IWW members last week. The IWW had a strong presence at Flaum, with about two-thirds of the warehouse being union members. Workers had been struggling for respect from the boss for almost a year before the firings occurred.

The chain of events began last Thursday when the boss fired a woman known for being a strong union member. When her fellow workers decided to confront the boss about her termination, they were all fired on the spot.

The IWW is putting up daily picket lines this week and will fight the terminations through direct action, media pressure, and legal action.

Supporters can write letters to management at:

Flaum Appetizing
288 Sholes Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206

City Bakery Blocks General Manager's Extension - Take Action Tell The City Bakery to Honor the Food Chain!

Posted Thu, 05/08/2008 - 1:31am by x344543
Please keep calling City Bakery; apparently it has cut off the general manager's extension! You can call at (212) 366-1414 and then just press 0 and ask for a manager. Please send the revised call to action below to your lists, otherwise folks won't be able to get through:

The City Bakery chain enjoys an image of being a "green" and "socially conscious" business. Yet, the City Bakery NY sells seafood from labor rights violator, Wild Edibles, Inc.

Given City Bakery's progressive image, current and former Wild Edibles workers were surprised when owner Maury Rubin refused to even enter into a dialogue regarding the hardships they face.

Co-op accused of union-busting

Posted Mon, 05/05/2008 - 1:36pm by x344543

By DAVID TABER - Jamaica Plain Gazette, May 2, 2008

SOUTH ST.—Two workers who were fired from the Jamaica Plain store of Harvest Co-op Markets in the last six months claim they were terminated for expressing support for union organizing efforts at the nonprofit supermarket. Harvest denies their accusations.

Diego Bencosme and Deon Furtick had both worked at Harvest for close to four years. They were both fired for failing to punch out when they went off shift—a rule they claim was rarely, if ever, enforced during their tenures.

They were fired without prior warnings, they said.

Both say they were fired because of their support for a current effort by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) to organize at Harvest. Both have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.