brandworkers's blog

Judge Robert E. Gerber approved the settlement without delay and the workers' victory is secured!

"Wild Edibles Settles with Workers Group Pushing Boycott", New York Times- Rea

Brandworkers campaigners were honored to stand with the Retail Action Project yesterday in its struggle for justice at Scoop NYC, a high-end clothing retailer. Scoop withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay and discriminated against West African immigrant workers.

Diane Krauthamer of Next Left Notes reports:

"The workers, who hail primarily from West Africa, are filing suit with the U.S. Department of Justice for unlawful firings, document abuse and citizenship status discrimination. According to RAP, in October 2008 Scoop NYC initiated an internal I-9 audit of the immigrant workers’ papers. Seven of these workers presented authorization as soon as requested, but Scoop NYC fired them, alleging that they failed to produce proper documentation. These workers are asking for approximately $200,000 in lost wages since the time of their termination." (Read the full Next Left Notes article).

More press coverage from the rally:

NY1: Workers Accuse High End Retailer Of Shortchanging Wages

Crain's New York- The scoop at Scoop: unpaid overtime, workers say

NY Daily News columnist, Errol Louis, blasts wage thieves in a column inspired by a struggle at a nail salon conducted by our friends at the Justice Will Be Served Campaign:

" With the economy on the ropes, it's more important than ever to crack down on bosses who break the law by stealing from their employees."

Read the full article here.

And plug in with the Justice Will Be Served Campaign

The impotence of the federal health and safety law, known as OSHA, is so extreme that it would be comical --- if the consequences weren't so utterly tragic.

After the horrific trampling death of Wal-Mart employee Jdimytai Damour, Brandworkers and many others pointed out the predictable nature of his death: Wal-Mart juices up its customers with marketing tactics to create a door-busting rush on Black Friday yet fails to implement even the most rudimentary plan to deal with the onslaught.

OSHA actually agreed and cited Wal-Mart for failing to implement reasonable crowd control measures to manage the predictable risk. But here's the kicker: OSHA is fining Wal-Mart just $7,000 for the violation. That's not a typo.

What more can we say? The one and only way that retail workers can protect their safety is to get organized and fight for safeguards, rather than relying on the government.

If you haven't heard yet, a pair of Domino's employees ignited a web firestorm by releasing a YouTube video showing them tampering with food including a worker shoving cheese up his nostril and passing gas on a sandwich. (The video was taken down by YouTube after threats from Domino's but we'll let you know when it's inevitably re-posted somewhere).

Brandworkers condemns the conduct of these employees in the strongest possible terms. Their disgusting behavior is an insult to the millions of hard-working, honest, and caring people who work in the fast food industry every day. The vast majority of fast food workers, despite dealing with frequent disrespect from management, would never even consider jeopardizing the well-being of innocent customers with an inane stunt of this kind.

However, Brandworkers also takes issue with response of Domino's and its President Patrick Doyle to the incident. In stilted PR-speak, Doyle's video response declines to take any responsibility for its negative work environment. Domino's has a track record of not rewarding the contributions of its employees or recognizing their voice about issues at work. In addition to perennial low wages, insufficient mileage reimbursement for drivers and many other issues, Domino's has demonstrated a consistent animosity toward the right to choose labor union membership free of coercion. You can view Domino's video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l6AJ49xNSQ

UPDATE: Mr. Haskett's story has finally hit the national mainstream media.

Nigel Haskett is the McDonald's worker who heroically came to the aid of a patron who was being violently assaulted. He was shot multiple times in the process and McDonald's is actively opposing his workers compensation claim for medical expenses.

Background is here: http://anti-union.blogspot.com/2009/02/mcdonalds-hero-getting-screwed-by...

A Brandworkers e-mail action is here: http://citizenspeak.org/node/1492

The Huffington Post has posted an e-mail message that McDonald's sent out to a concerned citizen regarding its conduct toward Mr. Haskett. It is McDonald's first statement on the matter. Below is McDonald's e-mail with Brandworkers comments in bold:
----

Thank you for taking the time to contact McDonald's to let us know your thoughts on this unfortunate incident.

Unfortunate? A 22-year old has undergone three surgeries and lives with a bullet fragment in his back because he had the heart and the courage to help out a women being violently assaulted. And the most McDonald's can muster is "unfortunate"?

Most important to note, McDonald's cleverly points to an "incident" rather than its pre-meditated corporate decision to deny workers compensation benefits that are owed due to that incident.

This restaurant is an independently owned McDonald's and an insurance claim is still pending.

McDonald's is wrongfully trying to hide behind its franchisee-store owner. The franchisee paid insurance premiums to the McDonald's workers compensation system so that McDonald's would pay out claims when they arose. Therefore, the ball is in McDonald's court and it's completely disingenuous to hide behind its franchisee.

As such, it is not appropriate for us to comment on it, however, the owner/operator, Ray Nosler, has shared the following statement publicly about this case:

McDonald's workers compensation agent argued that Mr. Haskett's claim should be denied in its entirety. If McDonald's is willing to make that argument against this hero, why doesn't it have the guts to comment on its decision? Now the multibillion dollar fast food giant continues to hide for cover behind its local franchisee.

February 24, 2009
My highest priority is the safety and security of my customers and employees.

I stand behind Nigel Haskett. I believe he acted as a Good Samaritan. Concerning the critical matter of his medical expenses, it is important to note that the Arkansas Worker's Compensation Commission ultimately decides the outcome of his claim. As part of this process, Nigel's case will be presented to a Worker's Compensation judge, who will review all of the facts and decide on the case's merits.

To say not to worry it's merely up to the judge now is downright offensive. The only reason Mr. Haskett must engage in the time, expense, and emotional heartache of litigation regarding a traumatic event in his life is because McDonald's has opposed his workers compensation claim. This is an open and shut matter and McDonald's legal arguments to the contrary are frivolous. FYI, whether or not McDonald's has a policy against helping a customer being attacked is legally irrelevant to this type of workers compensation claim.

McDonald's supports Nigel's claim, and fully anticipates the judge in this process will find in Nigel's favor. As a safeguard, if for some reason his claim is denied, and other insurance options are unavailable, I intend to cover the cost of his medical expenses.

Have you read 1984 by George Orwell? McDonald's, we are told, supports Nigel's claims by opposing Nigel's claims. And McDonald's fully anticipates that its frivolous legal arguments will fail but it continues to refuse to just settle the case!

The franchisee goes on to say he "intend[s]" to cover the costs if "other insurance options are unavailable." An intent to do something is not the same as pledging to do something or entering into a contract to do something. And what insurance is he talking about? Mr. Haskett certainly didn't have health benefits from McDonald's. So we suppose the store owner is referring to taxpayer-supported benefits. Well here's some news for the local store owner: It's not your responsibility to pay and it's certainly not the taxpayers'; it's the obligation of McDonald's to pay because you paid it insurance premiums to cover workplace injuries.

I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do for Nigel.

No sir, then you would have stepped up way back in August 2008 when Nigel Haskett was injured. You are "doing this" because of the growing public outcry and because you are being used as a pawn by the McDonald's corporation that is hiding behind you for public relations purposes.

Ray Nosler, McDonald's Owner/Operator

Kayla
McDonald's Customer Response Center

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UPDATED: Wikileaks has released the whole audio of the conference call. Listen to it and read Brandworkers' statement here.

When the retail giants and their special interest groups disparage the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) in public, they pretend to care about the right to a secret ballot. But in a conference call obtained by the Huffington Post, Home Depot legend Bernie Marcus and a lobbyist associate of his, make clear that their opposition is all about power politics and keeping labor organizing out of retail.

Marcus, who at one point references his 350-foot boat, is really worried about workers coming together to earn a living wage. He argues:

"This is the demise of a civilization. This is how a civilization disappears."

Marcus goes on to implore fellow business fat-cats to pour money into the fight against EFCA and maintains that retailers who didn't make campaign contributions to EFCA opponents, "should be shot."

Take a listen, you don't want to miss this rare opportunity to hear business discuss EFCA candidly.

Update Brandworkers launches petition calling on Nassau Country District Attorney to Investigate Wal-Mart and its senior executives in the killing.