IWW members met in St. Paul, Minnesota this past weekend for the annual IWW General Convention. Wobblies from the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany gathered to discuss union business, vote on constitutional amendments and resolutions, and of course to meet and get to know one another! The convention took place at Macalester College.

In addition to attending the convention, wobblies participated in a picket outside one of the Twin Cities' nine Jimmy John's locations on Saturday.

The International Solidarity Commission of the Industrial Workers of the World is deeply concerned about current repression and detention of workers and activists in Bangladesh. At the current moment, we especially highlight the situation of Kalpona Akter of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity NGO (BCWS), and demand that she be released from detention, all charges against her be dropped, and that the NGO status of the BCWS be immediately reinstated.

Responding to the government?s cruel and insulting offer of merely $43 a month minimum wage, in the country with the lowest garment wages in the world, Bangladeshi workers took to the streets for five days. The workers were met with the full force of the Bangladeshi police and security forces, in the service of the bosses.

To the Board of Directors of the Ecology Center [recycling@ecologycenter.org]:

As you are aware, the Industrial Workers of the World represents the workers at Curbside Recycling, which the Ecology Center operates. Over recent years, we have seen a pattern of behavior of your management team that betrays a strong anti-union attitude and borders on outright union busting.

• During negotiations for a new contract in December of 2007, your negotiation team sought to remove from the contract the clause that permits our members to refuse to cross a picket line. In other words, they sought the power to try to turn our members into strike breakers.
• During the negotiations for a new contract in December of 2008, Ecology Center management held a captive audience meeting with our members. This meeting, intentionally called without informing the union representatives, was an attempt to treat the Union as an unwanted "third party". This is a standard method of professional union busters.

At present, the IWW is filing for arbitration on behalf of one of its members. We are forced to do so due to flagrant violation of the contract by the Ecology Center management. This violation concerns the disciplining of one of our members.

• Ecology Center management decided this member was guilty before they even held a hearing with him to hear his explanation of events.
• Ecology Center management illegally demoted this member, in violation of the contract, thus saving themselves $7.50 per hour for every hour this member works.
• During the mediation step, the Ecology Center management once again made statements implying that the Union was some outside force, a "third party".

There are several different avenues that arbitration can take. The Ecology Center management has insisted on taking the most expensive avenue, knowing full well that the IWW is a small union that does not have a large treasury. While we are willing to fight the full length for our members, meaning that we will spend what is necessary, this tactic of the Ecology Center management is not lost upon us, especially in light of their previous actions. Meanwhile, the Ecology Center management team parades behind their "green" and "community oriented" banner while they trample on the rights of their workers and carry on what can only be described as an anti-union policy.

Still no response from corporate headquarters

MINNEAPOLIS - In the true spirit of Labor Day, supporters of the Jimmy Johns Workers Union in 32 states nationwide will take to the streets in an unprecedented National Week of Action to pressure Minneapolis franchise owner MikLin enterprises to meet with their workers.

In Minneapolis alone, more than 200 union members and supporters are expected to rally at the University of Minnesota for a performance by local hip-hop stars I Self Divine and Guante, followed by a march on two area stores.

The Minneapolis Jimmy Johns Workers Union, the first chapter in the country, is riding high on the momentum of several days of successful demonstrations and pickets in Minneapolis with crowds in the hundreds.

The union says actions will intensify as long as owner Mike Mulligan and General Manager Rob Mulligan refuse to meet with the union. “The Mulligans need to know that we aren't just hard-working employees, but students and parents; real people with real concerns. These are our lives. We're tired of being ignored and degraded at job after low wage job. We're tired of being expendable,” said Jake Foucalt, a union member in Minneapolis. “The pressure will continue to build until we are listened to.”

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.

A person working 30 hours a week on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 would make $3260 below the federal poverty line for a family of two. Jimmy Johns pays minimum wage and maintains a corporate policy of discouraging managers from scheduling workers more than 20 hours per week.

By Brent Ashcroft - WZZM13.com, September 6, 2010

Grand Rapids, Mi. (WZZM) - Demands for improvements to working conditions have some Jimmy John's employees unionizing around the nation. One West Michigan location will be a test-ground on Labor Day.

About twenty I.W.W (Industrial Workers of the World) members, from the Grand Rapids chapter, will picket in front of the Wealthy St. Jimmy John's Monday from noon to 1pm, representing the franchise's employees across the nation who feel they're underappreciated in the workplace, in support of the Jimmy John's labor dispute in Minneapolis which started it all.

"A lot of Jimmy John's workers are asked to work one and two hour shifts, or are expected to put wear and tear on their vehicles without compensation," says Cole Dorsey, Grand Rapids organizer of the I.W.W. "It's difficult to get sick days or to get job-related workman's compensation [from Jimmy John's management]."

So, Dorsey and the rest of the Grand Rapids I.W.W. will represent area Jimmy John's employees in protest Monday. Leafleting and picketing is planned for 32 of the 39 states in which Jimmy John's operates.

Minneapolis Jimmy John's co-owner, Mike Mulligan said in a statement last week: "We are very proud of our employment record in Minneapolis and take issue with the claims of the I.W.W. We value our relationship with our employees and offer competitive wages and good local jobs. We are dedicated to providing a fair, equal and diverse workplace environment."

Dorsey, and his I.W.W. members, don't see it that way.

"Sexual harrassment, better pay, benefits for non-managerial employees - that's what the union workers, the sisters and brothers in Minneapolis, want from us on Labor Day," says Dorsey.

By Daniel Gross, Z Net - September 6, 2010

With the political elites and professional pundits awaiting President Obama's proposal to boost the economy next week, a far more compelling path to safeguard the financial health of working families emerged in an unlikely place. Whichever tepid government plan moves forward won't alter, in the long run, the economic decline of America's hard-working men and women. Because the problems facing this country's working class are problems that government can't and certainly won't fix - can't because the problem is a lack of self-organization among working people and won't because the politicians side with the monied interests who fund their campaigns, not with workers.

Look for the Union Label

So the well-intentioned people calling for this or that economic initiative from the President next week, ought to look instead to the good folks who prepare and serve sandwiches at the Minneapolis locations of national fast food chain, Jimmy John's. (If you live in one of the 11 states that the company hasn't expanded to yet and haven't heard of it, you can think of the Jimmy John's brand as Subway with an irreverent, college-town vibe).

The solution implemented by the Jimmy John's workers is both beguiling in its simplicity and stunning in its power. They decided not to petition government, run away from a bad situation and find another bad job, or keep making futile pleas as individuals for change from their bosses. On September 2, in anticipation of Labor Day weekend, workers at nine Minneapolis Jimmy John's stores announced that they had formed a member-run union with the most innovative labor organization in the country, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

The workers are seeking to create good jobs at Jimmy John's instead of the minimum wage gigs with no benefits and fluctuating schedules that currently prevail at the chain. By the way, the corporate public relations-speak for these kinds of jobs was ably demonstrated by Rob and Mike Mulligan, the owners of the nine Minneapolis Jimmy John's locations. The millionaire Mulligan brothers angrily reacted to the workers' decision to organize by explaining that they, “offer competitive wages and good local jobs.” So remember, next time fast food executives talk about “competitive wages”, they mean minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour. “Good” means the jobs are good for the boss's bank account. And “local” means the company executives were kind enough not to outsource the sandwich making function to China or India.

Jimmy Johns Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World) - Contact: Jake Foucault, 612-508-4310.

Spirited Sandwich Workers Roll Out Innovative Tactic to Move Mulligans to Meet

MINNEAPOLIS: Uptown echoed with union chants and singing Saturday night as Jimmy Johns workers arrived with a surprise bicycle picket at Calhoun Square, bringing business at the store to a near halt. The job action comes two days after Jimmy Johns workers at all nine Minneapolis franchise locations announced the formation of a union and demanded talks wit owners Mike and Rob Mulligan over labor conditions at the chain. So far, the Mulligan have refused to meet with their employees.

"All we're asking is for the Mulligans to meet with us. If they're going to disrespect us by refusing to even talk to us, then they're in for a bumpy ride. The pressure won't stop until they meet our demands for more than minimum wage, sick days, and basic fairness," said Jake Foucault, a delivery driver at Jimmy Johns.

In response to the Mulligan's refusal to meet, the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union announced on Friday that the chain will face a National Week of Action beginning Labor Day, with leafleting and picketing planned in 32 of 39 states in which the company operates.

In Minneapolis, the Union plans a major Labor Day rally at 3pm at University and Pleasant in Dinkytown featuring hip hop icons I Self Divine and Guante.

The Jimmy Johns Workers Union, open to employees at the company nationwide, is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Gaining prominence in recent years for organizing Starbucks workers, the IWW is a global union founded over a century ago for all working people.

Jimmy Johns Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World) - Contacts: Emily Przybylsky, 414-477-9803; Erik Forman, 612-598-6205

Fast Food Union Campaign Escalates as Management Refuses to Meet with Workers

MINNEAPOLIS- Faced with the refusal of Jimmy Johns franchise owners Mike and Rob Mulligan to meet with their employees to discuss demands for improvements to working conditions, the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union announced today that it will coordinate a nation-wide Week of Action beginning on Labor Day at Jimmy Johns locations across the United States to pressure the Mulligans to come to the table.

"If Mike and Rob won't just sit down and meet with us, we feel we have no other choice but to put pressure on them to listen. We are going to show Jimmy John's corporate that if they don't ensure that their franchise owners are respecting their employees, there will be consequences at the national level," said Emily Przybylsky, a union member in Minneapolis.

The Jimmy Johns Workers Union will draw on the extensive network of the Industrial Workers of the World labor organization to coordinate the actions. Informational pickets and leafleting are planned so far in 32 of 39 states in which Jimmy Johns operates, with more to come.

In Minneapolis, the Union plans a series of actions over the weekend culminating in a Labor Day Rally and free concert featuring local Hip Hop icons Guante and I Self Divine.

The national corporate headquarters of Jimmy Johns has yet to respond to the unionization campaign, the first at the expanding sandwich empire.