About 20 JwJ activists entered the front door to Tomlinson Linen to deliver the Grinch award and joined the company potluck holiday event for about 4 minutes. See below, for more background on the Tomlinson Linen worker struggle. Activists brought holiday costumes, smiles, song and a special Grinch cake. Owner Gary Tomlinson was in the crowded breakroom and initially accepted the award with gratitude until he heard the reasons for the award. Suddenly the earlier segregated and hushed breakroom was rapt attentively to the exchange. In the most hostile reaction to the Grinch award in modern memory, the owner and managers at Tomlinson Linen went bezerk.

While we sang "You're a Mean One, Gary & Tim (Mr. Grinch)," Tomlinson managers began shoving JwJ activists and shouted profanities. The managers asked us to leave. As we tried to make our way down the rickety narrow staircase from the cramped breakroom, one owner blocked our exit by spreading elbows and then sitting sideways on the stairs. Yet another manager ran ahead of us and temporarily locked our entrance door. Justifying every bit of the Grinch award, Tomlinson managers' hostile theatrics continued until we convinced the blocking manager that his actions were contrary to other managers' requests and tantamount to kidnapping.

The General Manager Joel McCallister followed our large contingent onto the public street, bumping some of us and yelling more profanities as we peacefully passed Tacoma's Finest responding to the scene. As we all drove away and police took statements from him, the same Tomlinson manager could be seen apoplectically screaming profanities at us a block away. Police did not attempt to stop, question, or take info from any JwJ activists.

After many months of unsuccessful dialogue between Tomlinson worker union members and the Tomlinson managerial dictators, we took note of Tomlinsons' continued obsession with control over everything. Now the Tomlinsons can take note that they can't control everything, especially their community reputation. This struggle has spilled out of the plant and literally into the street.

Recently, Gary and Tim took the helm of this once community-friendly family business that caters to an upscale clientele. Tomlinson Linen workers, members of Teamsters 117, are conducting an unfair labor practice strike because Gary and Tim tried to bust the union before meaningful bargaining started. Revealing bad faith and wrongly assuming they would not need to bargain with a busted union, management rushed to the table with many takeaways and half-baked proposals. Gary and Tim also have massive real estate and investment holdings through out Western Washington and fancy themselves as civic contributors. Appropriate for the holiday season, the company owners have hired the firm of Grimm and Paine to advise them on union-busting tactics in addition to other Tomlinson practices that have become known as the top 6 reasons to win the Grinch contest:

• Gary and Tim want to take pensions away from many long-term workers, such as Bruce Roberts with over 40 years of service and needing only 3 more years to lock in. The brothers propose to replace the pension with an unspecified 401k plan.
• Gary and Tim are proposing to eliminate a full family healthcare plan and replace it with an unknown company plan. If Teamsters don’t achieve a new contract, the retirees, including Barbara Fullmer (right) with 44 years of service, may be forced to increase monthly healthcare payments from about $150 to about $450.
• When a former plant manager’s father died, the manager with many years of service went on bereavement leave. He then tried to fly back to work but couldn’t get a flight and called in. He missed a workday handling funeral arrangements. Gary and Tim fired the manager upon return.
• Gary and Tim want to eliminate drivers’ guaranteed weekly pay and replace it with sales commissions over which they have minimal control. It is clear the company is trying to pressure drivers to work 24 hours a day to integrate sales work. Drivers already are working up to 16 hours per day and are required to work Christmas Eve just to complete route work that does not include sales work. The day they went on strike was the first day-after-Thanksgiving ever that some drivers had not worked.
• Gary and Tim are proposing takeaways in a majority of the articles in the union contract. This contract has existed with minimal changes for decades. This is a clear sign of union-busting.
• Another sign of pure union-busting is a petty Gary and Tim proposal to cut in half the number of sick time hours used for doctor and dental appointments and increase the notice of appointments by almost 5 times.

This year’s South Sound contest had three very deserving candidates. Gary & Tim Tomlinson beat out two other South Sound Finalists: Wal-Mart Bully - Fircrest Mayor David Viafore and Irresponsible Developer Mike Cohen Construction. A total of 995 votes were cast.

‘Grinch of the Year’ candidates are nominated for doing the most harm to working families in our community. Previous winners of the award have met an untimely demise, such as former Tacoma Macy’s Store Manager Carol Lorton, former Tacoma City Councilmember Kevin Phelps, former Darigold CEO John Mueller, former US Senator Slade Gorton, former UW President Richard McCormick, and former Congressperson Newt Gingrich. Other Grinch winners have since grown a heart three times larger and have become socially responsible community leaders. We hope that Gary & Tim Tomlinson hears their workers and fine-dining customers no matter how rich they get, just as in the Seuss tale of How the Grinch stole Christmas.

JwJ activists pledge "we’ll be there," we’re not scared of any Grinch. By publicly awarding the Grinch of the Year, our expectation is that the Tomlinsons’ hearts will grow 3 sizes bigger, as Dr. Seuss envisioned. This year’s Grinch cuts against the grain of what it means to be a generous American. At a time they are amassing great wealth, Gary & Tim Tomlinson could show great leadership to support workers in need of healthcare and a dignified retirement. Instead they have so far turned to Grinchy motives.

Previous year's grinch awards: 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002