Jobs with Justice Victories
Summer 2011 Report
On this page:
- Rite Aid Workers Win Big
- CRJ Workers Galvanize to Hold Bosses Accountable
- Whole Foods Cuts and Runs
- Scrooge Washam Chills Out
- Grocery Bargaining Victory
- Workers Keep Union at Tacoma Macy’s
Through a nation-wide campaign of solidarity including JwJ, Rite Aid warehouse workers prevailed in a multi-year fight to win a strong union and working conditions with the Longshore union (ILWU). This movement for justice contributed to the national drug chain’s financial troubles. The campaign is both a symbol for  resistance against a national epidemic of workplace human rights violations and the dire need for federal worker rights reform. A negotiated agreement to enforce improvements to sweatshop working conditions was reached on May Day and recently ratified by Rite Aid workers overwhelmingly.
In our state, the spur of the campaign was in WhatcomCounty where a Rite Aid Board of Trustee works as a corporate executive. JwJ Whatcom activists rallied with ILWU members three times in the past 6 months at the executive’s workplace and in front of the downtown Bellingham Rite-Aid, with crowds larger than anywhere else in the Northwest celebrating Valentine’s Day and other holidays. JwJ activists also rallied multiple times at Rite-Aids in Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellingham over the multi-year struggle.
(Back to the top)
Struggling construction workers at the UW became a local face for Labor’s revived fight for human rights in the workplace, ignited in Wisconsin. Organizing to form a union with the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) and the Cement Masons (OPMCIA) at the CRJ contractor, the workers linked arms with campus unions and allies to call on UW Administrators to declare “No Wisconsins in the UW community.
Renewed worker solidarity is emboldening an escalating campaign for justice from CRJ bosses and UW Administrators.
JwJ played a central role in hosting and organizing the coalition that launched 2 rallies at UW campuses, amassing 500 total activists, 2 marches on bosses, and scores of unions and community groups represented during the April 4 national day of action. The events also featured the ferry worker fight for collective bargaining (IBU), the public worker defense of essential services (SEIU & UAW & AFSCME), and retail and hospitality worker Downtown Tacoma campaigns for the right-to-organize (UFCW & UNITE-HERE) placed by Tacoma NAACP President Christopher in the context of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination while organizing for the right-to-organize with Memphis  sanitation workers.
Shortly after the rallies, UW President Wise acknowledged the march to the UW-Tacoma Chancellor’s office and that state investigators had begun to hold UW bosses accountable to monitoring CRJ’s compliance with worker rights. President Wise declined to mediate and try to resolve the mess.
Since, the IUPAT union initiated multiple court liens against CRJ’s UW construction projects to address liability stemming from the state investigations, alleged CRJ retirement account ERISA violations, or federal lawsuits. Recently, the federal Labor Board has issued 54 indictments to prosecute against CRJ bosses for worker mistreatment. Non-union contractors in CRJ’s industry are now seeking labor harmony and offering union recognition to workers as they watch CRJ’s experience.
 The April 4 rallies were also a growth event for JwJ. In Seattle, JwJ leaders collected more activist pledge cards than all 2010 actions combined. In Tacoma, rally participation surged to over 300 despite a cold downpour as over 100 Tacoma Longshore union members (ILWU 23) reciprocated the solidarity that brought victory in the Rite Aid campaign.
(Back to the top)
Apparently, Whole Foods and their financiers have decided that Downtown Tacoma is not a wise investment to bring their anti-worker brand, despite offers of lavish corporate welfare. While this was front-page news 6 months ago, a recent public bidding process confirmed this victory.
Given the recent conflicts between greedy corporate developers and workers in solidarity with JwJ, it is  no wonder that investors are staying away from this local climate. So far the Tacoma City Council has bypassed labor harmony, rather choosing to dismiss issues of injustice and fueling further conflict.
Unfortunately, another wealthy corporation is getting our City tax-dollar help to pursue Federal funds to build a boutique luxury hotel at the former potential Whole Foods site. This reminds us of another luxury development including a hotel where forces for justice insured that our tax-dollars are appropriately used on projects benefiting all people, not just the rich.
(Back to the top)
 Immediately following JwJ’s Scrooge of the Year award delivery, Pierce County Assessor Dale Washam retreated from his aggressive treatment of workers in the Assessor’s Office, members of Teamsters 117. JwJ’s award delivery was captured on TV after we conducted our annual contest in Tacoma. Since the award delivery, the union members have become more emboldened from the community solidarity and Washam has satisfactorily resolved all of the Teamster union’s unfair labor practice charges. We shall see how Washam treats the Assessor Office staff as his behavior becomes the subject of a recent recall effort. Could this be another case of Scrooge embracing love over greed and hate?
(Back to the top)
25,000 Puget Sound grocery workers and their union UFCW 21 celebrated making some important job improvements, and protecting healthcare, pension, and wages. They thanked JwJ and other allies for solidarity.
The original proposals from the big chain corporate employers were horrible. On several occasions, UFCW 21 called on JwJ to participate in solidarity actions at grocery stores in Greater Seattle and WhatcomCounty. The employers were very aware of the high level of community support and mentioned it in the bargaining. Workers repeatedly said the most important impact of strong community support was the way in which it bolstered the morale and determination of themselves. The key factor for the employers was how committed the workers are to being treated fairly. Throughout the contract campaign the workers demonstrated strong resolve, capped by the 94% strike authorization vote.
(Back to the top)
Tacoma Macy’s workers, members of UFCW 367, saved their union from another aggressive anti-worker campaign by Macy’s corporate parent. The union won a fair and equitable contract despite retaliation in the workplace against worker rights. Unfortunately, such human rights abuses have become all too common when bosses of all stripes resist workers organizing for economic justice. It was a long hard fight extending almost a year which culminated in Jobs with Justice activists performing an in-store Black Friday flash mob
(Back to the top)
|
