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UE Local 1110 Resistance and Recovery Tours stops in Cleveland |
Cleveland Jobs with Justice asks Walmart - Do you really believe in democracy in the workplace? |
Once again, the weather cooperated - the rain stopped long enough while 45 activists from several of our sister unions and organizations joined us at Walmart to challenge them about their role in the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. We wanted to know if they really believe in democracy in the workplace. We wanted to know if they would allow their workers to vote in a secret ballot election. We provided the voting booth, ballots and the ballot box. All Walmart management had to do was allow their workers the chance to vote, on their breaks, without the fear of being fired. But, it came as no surprise, Walmart management would not allow the ballots to be distributed and told our leaders that no voting would take place in any Walmart store! So, Walmart, it looks as if you really do not believe in democracy in the workplace afterall. It seems you just use this as a way to try to convince elected officials and the public that you really are not the "Beast of Bentonville" like we know you really are. The "Beast" never seems to change. You just want to continue to fool the public by making some of us think you have. Well Walmart, we are not fooled! You are the perfect example of why we need the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Close to 70 Cleveland Jobs with Justice union members and community activists attended the Cleveland stop of the Resistance and Recovery tour to hear the incredible story of UE Local 1110. Union President Armando Robles told about the union take over of Republic Windows and Doors at the end of 2008. Company officials, at the urging of Bank of America - (yes, the same Bank of America who received $25 Billion in TARP money as part of the financial bail out) violated the Warn Act by closing down the factory without giving the employees proper notice and could not pay earned vacation pay because. Bank of America cut off the company's line of credit. Union members and officials occupied Republic Windows and Doors until they were able to negotiate a $7000 package for each of the workers. The real happy ending of this story is they are currently in negotiations with a California company who is looking to buy the factory, hire back all the employees and produce energy efficient windows!! UE Local 1110 is a true inspiration to all and a perfect example off why we need the Employee Free Choice Act! For more photos click here. |
Video shot by Jim Miller from What's Up Northeast Ohio - thank you Jim! |
Cleveland Rallies for the Employee Free Choice Act!! The weather was horrible earlier in the day but the clouds broke and the sun was shining brightly as we rallied for the Employee Free Choice Act in Cleveland. Many of our partners from labor, faith and community organizations joined us at the Free Speech Quad on Public Square. In fact many put the crowd count at a respectable 150. There was even a special appearance by the Obama puppet who made his debut during the 2008 election season. Speakers included Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner; Harriet Applegate, North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, Executive Secretary; Linda Kurtzman, an employee at the AT&T Call Center who joined the Communications Workers of America through majority sign-up; Stanley Miller, Executive Director, Cleveland Branch NAACP; business owner Dave Kondik, Kondik Advertising and Printing and his son Aidan; and MacKenzie Bailey, Associate Regional Representative, Blue Green Alliance, Sierra Club. Mike Martino, UFCW Local 880 narrated the special production of the live street theater - R-Guy. |
Video by Caleb Maupin |
InkStop stores dry up - owing employees back pay and health care Unless you are a real news junkie and read the Business Section of your local newspaper or know one of the former employees, this is one story you may have missed. InkStop was a chain of 152 convenience stores for office supplies that stocked ink cartridges and small electronics. The stores were located in small plazas in communities where big box office supply stores did not exist. InkStop owner Dirk Kettlewell boasted that the chain would be profitable by the end of this year by using over $80 million from private investors. This was supposed to be the “Sleeping Beauty” business story of the decade, but instead it turned into something that rivals “Psycho.” The first blow came when all 152 InkStop stores were closed without warning on October 1st. It was business as usual earlier in the day. As the doors were locked for the night, the devastating news came via a faxed and emailed letter to employees to tell them: No more jobs and no pay for the last three weeks of work. This news was accompanied by a plea for patience “during this trying time.” Even though the managers had keys to the stores, many of the security codes were changed during the dark of night. Employees could not get back in to the stores to collect personal belongings. Some still have items locked away in stores that are silent, or in stores that have been chained by landlords who have not received their rent for at least a couple of months. The second blow came when a letter told them their health care insurance had not been paid for their last month of employment. This same letter also told them they would be ineligible for continuing health coverage under COBRA – remember they had not paid the insurance bill. This in itself was a double whammy because if the company had at least kept the health care premiums current the employees would have been able to receive continuing health coverage at the newly reduced rate. If we are keeping track, wages, rent and health care were not seen as a priority and had not been paid. Meanwhile, Dirk Kettlewell and his wife and business partner Dawn Callahan are still living in a house worth $850,000 in an exclusive country club community and driving new cars while the employees’ credit is being wrecked and they are counting the days until their first unemployment check reaches their bank accounts. Other than two letters outlining what the employees would not be getting, Kettlewell and Callahan and the Board have been silent. They have not communicated in any other way with the employees. No apologies. No explanations. Right, workers should “be patient.” |
This was all the information Cleveland Jobs with Justice needed to jump into action. Our Mobilization Team decided to organize a protest in front of the Lakewood, Ohio store calling on Dirk Kettlewell to do the right thing and pay his employees what they are owed. Now we thought this story was bad enough but, it was about to get worse as the proverbial plot thickened….. The third blow was delivered the morning of the protest. Another story about InkStop appeared in the business section of our local newspaper. An investor was suing Kettlewell and the board. This suit was being filed against Kettlewell et al for fraudulently withholding information because the investor gave them $250,000 right before the collapse of the company. The fact that an investor handed over $250,000 right before the stores closed begs the question: Where did the $250,000 go Mr. Kettlewell? We know he did not pay the rent. He did not pay the health insurance premiums for his employees. And he did not make payroll. So, what happened to that money? It certainly feels as if a crime has been committed but will charges ever be filed? We probably need to be patient. But patience is not a virtue that we have at Cleveland Jobs with Justice. In fact, this new information gave us even more fuel as we hit the streets in front of the closed store in Lakewood, Ohio. Joining us were 50 activists and the Bread and Puppet Theater, a social action performance group from Vermont who, fortunately for us, just happened to be in town and agreed to attend our protest. There had been assurances from some of the former employees that they would attend, but none of them made it. It seems some are in fear that taking action will hurt their chances of finding new employment and others really are holding on to the hope that the stores will reopen. One of them, who has been fortunate enough to find a new job and was working during the protest, describes it as the “InkStop Kool-aid.” Cleveland Jobs with Justice will speak up and fight for those who may be too intimidated to do it for themselves. We had a lively protest with performances by Bread and Puppet; speakers included Executive Committee Members Reverend Bob Strommen and Mike Martino; Lakewood Councilwoman-at-Large Nickie Antonio; and the two attorneys who filed the class action lawsuit for wage theft, Jason Bristol and Anthony Lazzaro; and Cleveland JwJ Coordinator Debbie Kline. After the program, we marched to the front of the store with Bread and Puppet to create the “scene of the corporate crime.” We put a huge caution tape “X” on the store window, wrapped the tape around a big puppet called Uncle Fat Cat and drew a chalk outline with the number of jobs on the sidewalk in front of the store. We also gathered letters from our activists demanding that the employees be paid their back wages. We will be sending these letters to Kettlewell and the board. It seems that everyone involved could have taken this just a little better if Dirk Kettlewell, Dawn Callahan and InkStop’s Board of Directors (one happens to be former quarterback and NFL commentator Boomer Esiason) had been honest with their employees instead of hiding what was happening with the company. If they had stepped forward and done the right thing instead of bleeding the hardworking men and women dry, to get every penny they could suck out of them until they could bleed no more. The wake of devastation is being felt in at least 550 households throughout the country. However, there is one household that seems to be doing just fine – the Kettlewell household. Even though the employees have filed a class action lawsuit that will take years to resolve and by then who knows where Mr. Dirk Kettlewell and his accomplices will be. Justice certainly needs to be served in this case and hopefully there will come a time when someone will be saying, “Be patient Mr. Kettlewell, 3 – 5 years will go by before you know it!” |
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NO HUGO Don't Go!! 300 workers will lose their jobs if the Hugo Boss factory on Tiedemann Rd in Brooklyn, OH closes. Members of Cleveland Jobs with Justice rallied in solidarity with Workers United in hopes of saving these jobs. If these jobs move overseas to Turkey or Bulgaria our workers will lose over $9.5 million which equates to a $21 million hit to the local economy. We were rallying to save jobs while Hugo Boss sponsored the prestigious Davis Cup, mens tennis tournament in Barcelona, Spain. Now this story gets even better.... or worse. Management has offered a one year trial to stay at the Cleveland plant but the workers have to take a 35% pay cut from $12.80 to $8.30 an hour. So they can sponsor a tennis tournament, which surely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but they cannot pay their workers a living wage? Has someone somewhere taken all of these corporate hacks, put them in a room and brainwashed them all to believe we would not notice or do they think we are just really the dumb public? I am afraid they know many of us will just walk away shaking our heads, while saying, "Isn't that just too bad." Well guess what Hugo Boss? Not here. Not in Cleveland. You have our attention and we say - HELL NO HUGO!! DON'T GO!!! DO THE RIGHT THING - NO PAY CUTS!! |