Walmart users are again trying to band together and pursue better pay, benefits and treatment on the job, but the new organization effort won’t involve a union. The Organization for United Respect at Walmart, or OUR Walmart, has reportedly signed up thousands of members in an attempt to unionize workers without actually unionizing. [More]
unions
The "Don't Join A Union" Video Target Makes New Employees Watch
By 6.14.11
Behind Target’s “we’re hip and different” veneer lurks a company that intensely discourages its workers from joining a union. Gawker has posted a copy of an anti-union industrial video Target shows its new employees called, “Think Hard Before You Sign.” It’s kinda creepy. Here’s a transcript of the video. Some highlights: [More]
San Francisco Apple Store Employee Forms Union
By 6.13.11
The latest brainstorm from Apple Geniuses may be to organize and bargain for better pay and benefits. A unionization effort is on in San Francisco, led by a part-time Apple Store employee there. [More]
Union Aims To Organize Target Workers
By 5.24.11
An effort is underway to unionize Target workers, and next month employees of the retailer will vote on whether or not to organize. [More]
Angry Restaurant Workers Secretly Tape Bosses
By 1.28.11
Some employees at a famous restaurant NYC’s Central Park got so fed up with the way they were being treated by their bosses that they took matters into their own hands and began secretly tape-recording workplace conversations. [More]
Sanitation Whistleblowers Say Department Intentionally Delayed NYC Snow Removal
By 12.30.10
Was the slow snow removal in New York City the result of a planned Sanitation Department protest to make the Mayor pay for reducing their staff? That’s what several whistleblowers are reportedly saying, according to the New York Post. [More]
Chrysler Workers Caught Drinking, Toking Up During Break
By 9.27.10
Last week, MyFoxDetroit showed footage it had secretly taped of at least 15 autoworkers at a Chrysler plant “drinking beer and smoking marijuana before heading to work.” Chrysler has told the television station that it has suspended the employees without pay pending an investigation, and that it will likely determine next actions today. Check out the video below. [More]
Pilots Bristle As American Airline Tells Them To Fly With Less Fuel
By 6.26.10
Extra fuel is joining peanuts and magazines on the list of things American Airlines wants to ditch at the gate. The airline announced plans this week to save cash by using “scientifically precise” computer models to load less fuel. If pilots want more, they’ll need to submit a request in writing. [More]
Walmart Defeats Chicago, Plans To Open Up To 21 Stores
By 6.26.10
Like a big city pimp waiting to pick you up off the ground when times get tough, Walmart was able to establish its first stores in Chicago through guile, perseverance, and a few meaningless reassurances. Smaller stores! $0.50 pay raise! Union-built! These are the meager concessions that led Chicago to sell-out their local retailers. [More]
Walmart Announces Intention To Open Dozens Of Stores In Chicago
By 6.22.10
Chicago, despite having Targets galore, only has a single Walmart store on the west side. The big box giant has faced serious resistance from labor unions who claim that the company doesn’t pay enough and doesn’t provide adequate benefits. Now Walmart says they have a plan called the “Chicago Community Investment Partnership.” [More]
Spirit Airlines Flights Resume Friday, Offers Everyone $50 Off
By 6.16.10
Spirit Airline flights, grounded since the beginning of a 5-day pilot strike, could will resume Friday, after the pilots union and the airline reached a tentative agreement following 26 straight hours of negotiation. In its typically tongue-in-cheek fashion, coinciding with the announcement was a “Strikingly Low Fares” promotion offering everyone $50 off new tickets plus 5,000 bonus miles. [More]
Union Organizing California Weed Workers
By 5.29.10
You know an industry has hit the big time when labor unions decide it’s time to organize the workers. So, it looks like California’s medical marijuana workers are about to reach new highs now that the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 in San Jose has begun organizing local pot purveyors. Here’s the big question, though: How long before they start showing up to picket non-union shops with a giant inflatable bong? [More]
62 DFAS Employees To Be Terminated For Bad Credit
By 3.22.10
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), a military payroll facility in Ohio, has told at least 62 of its employees that they will be terminated for having bad credit, reports WKYC. Troy Marshall, a 17-year veteran at the DFAS and one of the people being fired (incidentally, he’s also the president of a union that expanded jobs at the DFAS five years ago), told WKYC that he handles Social Security numbers and maiden names, but nothing else. “We are people. We are not just numbers. We are not just credit reports… Look at the whole person.” [More]
USPS Suggests Cutting Saturday Delivery And Increasing Rates
By 3.2.10
The United States Postal Service is continuing its long slide into suckage according to a new report delivered by Postmaster General John E. Potter this morning. People sent far less mail last year (“more than double any previous decline,” says the Washington Post) and labor costs continue to rise, which helped the USPS lose $3.8 billion in 2009. [More]
Walmart Prepares For New Push Into Major Urban Areas
By 11.4.09
If you live in Chicago, New York City, or Philadelphia, expect to start hearing some noise about Walmart in the coming months. The retailer has announced that it’s going to “step up efforts to mobilize local political support” so that it can finally open stores in those cities, reports the Financial Times.
Will CVS Ever Pull Expired Medicine, Baby Formula From Their Shelves?
By 5.23.09
CVS stores across the nation regularly stock expired medicine, milk, and baby formula, according to a damning union report. This isn’t the first time CVS has been caught stocking dangerous goods. Last year, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo threatened a suit after his office caught the pharmacy selling goods over a year past their expiration dates. CVS claims that, despite investing over $160 million in a “perpetual inventory management” system, it’s nearly impossible to keep expired items off the shelf because they simply have too much stuff.
Union Asks Bank Of America Customers To Ask Tellers To Ask CEO To Resign
By 1.28.09
The Service Employees International Union is running a campaign asking Bank of America customers to go into their local branch on Thursday and have a conversation with the teller about why their CEO, Ken Lewis, should be fired. One point that’s sure to rile up the tellers: their annual pay is less than what the CEO of one of Bank of America’s acquired companies spent on new drapes for his office.
