| Jimmy Johns Sandwich Workers Join Union to Increase Minimum Wage Pay
By IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union 
September 02, 2010
From JimmyJohnsWorkers.org
First in Nation, Jimmy Johns Sandwich Workers Join Union to Increase Minimum Wage Pay
Fast Food Chain Rocked by Work Stoppages in Sign of Mounting Economic Frustration among US Workers
Press Conference and Rally: 4pm September 2, Block E Jimmy Johns, Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS- Service was anything but 'freaky fast' at Jimmy Johns today as workers walked off the kitchen floor in an unprecedented move to demand improved wages and working conditions at nine Minneapolis franchise locations. Announcing the formation of the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union, the workers are seeking a pay increase to above minimum wage, consistent scheduling and minimum shift lengths, regularly scheduled breaks, sick days, no-nonsense workers compensation for job-related injuries, an end to sexual harassment at work, and basic fairness on the job.
“I have been working at Jimmy Johns for over two years and they still pay me minimum wage and schedule me one-hour shifts,” said Rikki Olsen, a union member at the Block E location. “I'm working my way through school and can barely make ends meet. I'd get another job, but things are just as bad across the service industry. Companies like Jimmy John's are profitable and growing, they need to provide quality jobs for the community.”
The Minneapolis franchise, owned and operated by Miklin Enterprises, Inc., pays the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr, offers no benefits, and has no full-time positions outside of management. Jimmy Johns corporate website lists $264,270 as the average yearly net profit for operating a franchise. Union members estimate that Rob and Mike Mulligan, owners of Miklin, Inc. made an annual profit of at minimum $2.3 million in the last year alone. The Miklin franchise plans to open four new locations this year at an estimated cost of over $1.2 million.
Jake Foucault, a delivery driver at the Riverside store, said, “ If Mike and Rob Mulligan have the money to open four new stores, then they have the money to pay us more than minimum wage. We hope Rob and Mike do the right thing and come to the negotiating table.”
A negotiating committee of Jimmy Johns workers plans to meet with the Mulligans at the central office of the franchise to begin discussions at 4:00pm today.
The fast food workers' move to unionize is emblematic of mounting frustration amongst US workers with the sluggish pace of recovery from the Recession. With unemployment rates hovering around 9.5%, many workers view low wage service jobs as their only option. Employment in the food service industry is expected to grow 8.4% from 2008 to 2018, higher than the 7.7% rate predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all industries. Wages and working conditions in the fast food industry are widely regarded as substandard; in 2009, about 17% of food workers earned at or below $5.15 an hour after taxes, the highest percentage of any occupational group.
The union campaign at Jimmy Johns could hold deep implications for other companies in the fast food industry, a sector known for the lowest rates of unionization- and lowest wages- in the United States. 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. The question of unionization of the food and service industries looms is assuming greater focus as employment in these non-union sectors increases, while manufacturing, the traditional stronghold of unionization, slides further into decline.
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.
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3,000 postal workers march to protest cost-cutting moves
By Elisha Anderson of the Detroit Free Press 
Photo by Susan Tusa of Detroit Free Press
September 01, 2010
From Detroit Free Press
Thousands chant: 'Five day, no way!'
Wearing blue shirts, thousands of American Postal Workers Union members packed Campus Martius in downtown Detroit on Tuesday to protest the U.S. Postal Service's proposal that Congress agree to eliminate Saturday mail service next year as a cost-cutting move.
The APWU estimated more than 3,000 members from across the country walked from Cobo Center to Campus Martius, many chanting "Five day, no way!" The APWU, which represents postal clerks, maintenance workers and drivers -- but not mail carriers -- is holding its 20th Biennial National Convention in Detroit this week.
The Postal Service lost nearly $7 billion last year and is projecting a similar loss this year, said Ed Moore, Postal Service spokesman in Detroit.
The Postal Service delivered 177 billion pieces of mail last year, which is 25.6 billion fewer pieces than delivered in 2008. Moore blamed the decline on e-mail, text messaging, direct deposit and the use of the Internet to pay bills. As a result, officials say, there isn't enough mail to support a six-day system.
Saturday would be the least-disruptive day of the week for people not to get mail, he said.
APWU President William Burrus said in a news release that ending Saturday service would drive away business and lead to the demise of the Postal Service. Instead, he said Congress should relieve the Postal Service of a law that requires it to pay $5 billion a year to prefund health care benefits for future retirees. Postal workers blame the law for a large portion of the operating deficit.
Even if that happens, Moore said the Postal Service would still be in the red.
The possible loss of jobs if mail service goes to five days a week was a big concern among many of the protesters.
"People have gone from being very confident and sure that this is a lifetime career to now not being so sure," said Kim Sauceda, 34, a postal custodian from Tallevast, Fla.
Sharon Claude, 61, of Metairie, La., who has worked as a postal clerk for 27 years, said she thinks the proposed changes target poor people.
"A lot of those people don't have cars, don't have computers to receive correspondence," she said.
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