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Day-to-Day Report on Pizza Time Strike

Updates provided by mediaisland.org.

Day 19 - Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Pizza Time workers met with owners Richard and Judi Kelley at 10am on Tuesday March 1st, to discuss the future of Olympia Pizza Time. Richard Kelley repeatedly denied being the owner on one hand, while threatening to close the store indefinitely and sell the equipment on the other.

Richard Kelley's conditions for reopening Pizza Time are:

    1) the workers agree to not have their demands for better work conditions met, and

    2) workers would be forced to "volunteer", or .donate their time. to make Pizza Time a more profitable business.

Richard Kelley added that any monetary shortfall cause by the strike would be withheld from the worker's wages. For example, Richard Kelley suggested inside workers may be paid for seven hours of every ten hours worked and that delivery drivers would "have to live on tips". Before the strike, the highest paid workers earned $7.50 an hour.

A little after 10:30am, Pizza Time owner Shane Bloking entered the store to gather paper work. Shane Bloking denied being an owner and refused to negotiate with the workers.

Pizza Time owners Shane Bloking, Judi Kelley and Richard Kelley all refused to sign a statement voluntarily recognizing the Olympia Workers' Association as the worker's collective body for self-representation.

Pizza Time workers filed for union recognition with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday Feb. 17th -- At this point, Pizza Time workers look forward to government mediation and an investigation into possible unfair labor practices on the part of the owners.

Pizza Time workers and community support are strong. Pizza Time workers thank community members who ate pizza with them on Saturday and everyone who has showed support through this unnecessarily prolonged labor dispute. Pizza Time workers want everyone to know that they will not give up the struggle for better work conditions.