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By Pete Meyers, on June 30th, 2011
The world’s largest hair salon corporation, Regis/Cost Cutters, agrees to remove “Yellow Dog Contracts” it forced workers to sign and to provide Notices and a DVD recording informing employees of their rights
(Ithaca, NY) The National Labor Relations Board has settled unfair labor practice charges against Minneapolis-based Regis Corporation which operates some 10,000 hair salons with over 57,000 workers nationwide, including three Regis Corporation salons in the Ithaca area. The Tompkins County Workers’ Center/JwJ, representing two Cost Cutters’ (one of Regis’ 34 ‘brands’) workers, filed the charges in 2010.
The settlement requires Regis to remove all the “Yellow Dog Agreements” it forced workers to sign from its files. These agreements, called by Regis “Protection of Secret Vote Agreements” and signed by workers during 2009-10, were written promises by workers that any union authorization cards they might sign in the future were null and void. This was deemed illegal by the NLRB.
The settlement also requires Regis to post a NLRB notice at all of its store locations nationwide describing for workers their rights to union representation and the commitment of Regis to respect these rights. This same notice will also be recorded by an agent of the
Continue reading Tompkins Workers’ Center Wins Major Workers Rights Case Against World’s Largest Hair Salon Chain
By Pete Meyers, on November 1st, 2010
 The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint late Friday against the Minneapolis-based Regis Corporation, which operates some 10,000 hair salons nationally under 34 different brand-names including Supercuts and Cost Cutters, ordering Regis to cease and desist in its illegal actions. In the complaint, the NLRB investigated and then determined that the Regis Corporation had illegally solicited employees to promise in writing that they would not sign union authorization cards in the future. The investigation commenced as a result of an Unfair Labor Practice complaint filed with the NLRB by the Tompkins County Workers’ Center / Jobs with Justice on behalf of two workers at an Ithaca, NY Cost Cutters, as well as workers in Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
The NLRB complaint says that in a DVD played to employees across the country, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Finkelstein, warned that hair stylists would be blacklisted from the industry if they supported a union. In the recording, he exhorted employees to sign a “Protection of Secret Vote Agreement,” which would prospectively revoke any union authorization cards in the future.
The complaint states the remedies
Continue reading Working at Supercuts Isn’t so Super
By Pete Meyers, on January 5th, 2010
 On December 10th, the New York State Department of Labor’s (DOL) Commissioner Patricia Smith, announced in a joint press conference [video here] with the Tompkins County Workers’ Center and Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson, the findings of a targeted DOL investigation of 22 Tompkins County restaurants. In May 2009, investigators from the DOL’s Division of Labor Standards and Unemployment Insurance found that five of the restaurants – 23 percent – were in full compliance with labor laws. However, the other 17 restaurants – 77 percent of those visited – were found to have violated New York State Labor Laws. Specifically, the DOL found that $87,925 is owed to 93 employees at 6 restaurants for violations such as failure to pay minimum wage and illegal deductions from workers’ paychecks. Commissioner Smith said:
I’m encouraged by the fact that almost one-quarter of the restaurants we checked were in full compliance with labor laws. To them I say thank you – thank you for treating your workers fairly and thank you for playing by the rules. Ultimately, a level playing field helps all New Yorkers – workers and
Continue reading Sweep of Ithaca Restaurants Finds Labor Law Violations at Most
By Pete Meyers, on October 29th, 2009
Lakeside worker Lana Wegner-Harden, joined by SEIU Organizer Baschki Leo, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, and Tompkins County Workers' Center/JwJ Organizer, Linda Holzbaur Speaking at Tuesday Press Conference (Photo: Marty Luster, Photo News Service)
One hundred thirty workers at Lakeside Nursing Home in Ithaca announced Tuesday (supported by their union SEIU1199, Assemblyperson Barbara Lifton; Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson; Pastor Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church in Ithaca, the Workers’ Center, families of residents, and various community organizations) their intention to fight requirements by the new owners of Lakeside, the Peregrine Health Management Company. Health care workers at Lakeside have been told they must reapply for jobs, will have their wages lowered, and lose retirement pensions when Peregrine, take over as owners on November 1st.
The workers at Lakeside (to be renamed Cayuga Ridge LLC) demand that Peregrine guarantee the jobs and pensions of the healthcare-givers they have employed for the past nine years. Lana Wegner-Harden, an LPN at Lakeside for the past
Continue reading Ithaca Nursing Home Workers Forced to Reapply for Jobs
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