Congressman Stephen Lynch, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan and community leaders representing the Massachusetts Workers’ Rights Board reviewed a list of employees at Comcast’s Fall River and Fairhaven locations and then checked it against union authorization cards voluntarily signed by employees at the same locations requesting IBEW Local 2322 to represent them.

Based on their card count, an overwhelming majority of Comcast employees in the above named locations desire to unite in IBEW Local 2322.

Rep. Lynch and Mayor Flanagan sent a letter immediately afterwards, “urging Comcast management to respect the employee majority and voluntarily recognize IBEW Local 2322 as their representative and begin collective bargaining for an agreement covering their wages, benefits and working conditions.”

“We requested the certification because we wanted to prove beyond a doubt to management that a genuine majority of our co-workers want to form a union and begin collective bargaining,” said Brian Almeida, a Comcast technician from the Fall River office who stared with the company in 2001.

Almeida was

Continue reading New Comcast Workers’ Union Certified

Think about working in temperatures, upwards of 100 degrees on hot days.  Finding used hypodermic needles; human body parts, fluids and excrement; umbilical cords and other biohazard material from the Cleveland Clinic hospital system.   No safety harnesses for workers climbing over 10 feet in the air on scissor lifts.  Nonexistent water breaks and a minimal amount of fans to cool the facility on extremely hot days.   Now think about enduring all of this while earning $8.34 an hour.  Think I am talking about a sweatshop located in a third world country?  Well, think again.

I have just described some of the horrible conditions Sodexo Laundry workers in Cleveland, Ohio face on a daily basis.  It doesn’t stop there either.  Poor ventilation and circulation of the air causes oppressive heat inside the plant, even during cold weather.   One worker described going in and out of the plant like, “going from a stove to a refrigerator.”   Doors are thrown open in the winter, sending bone chilling drafts into areas of the facility, just increasing the uncomfortable surroundings the workers have to face.   Machines are overloaded and workers are expected to meet production

Continue reading Cleveland’s Own “Sweat” Shop

The Long Island Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board, in collaboration with and the student group the Social Justice Alliance and the Research Assistants Union at Stony Brook University, organized a Hearing yesterday to  investigate the negotiating strategies of the Stony Brook Research Foundation, the employer of 740 Research Assistants at Stony Brook University who are members of CWA Local 1104. Initially, the Workers’ Rights Board extended an invitation to the Research Foundation to present their case, but the RF declined, stating that they would rather not negotiate in public.

A day before the Hearing was scheduled to take place, Stony Brook Administration informed the student group that their Room Request, which was approved a month earlier, was revoked. Outraged, one of the students, along with members of the union, met with Associate Dean Dr. Susan DiMonda to demand that they have access to the space. Armed with fallacious excuses and weak rationale, Dr. DiMonda claimed that it was clear that this was a “labor event” and it had to be approved through Human Resources, not student activities.

“As a social justice student group, this

Continue reading Research Assistants at Stony Brook Speak Up Despite Repression

Last night, just a few miles away from Nike’s global headquarters, two Honduran workers spoke out strongly about how Nike’s destructive labor practices have hurt them, their families and their co-workers. Gina Cano and Lowlee Urquía testified in front of members of the Portland Area Workers’ Rights Board and a crowd of more than 100 community members.

Both women had worked in Nike-contracted factories for many years in Honduras before being laid off without notice, and without legally mandated severance pay in January 2009. “We’re here in Oregon, the home of Nike, because we want to put a face to the consequences of Nike’s behavior”, said Lowlee Urquía. “We’re saying to Nike that it is responsible every step of the way.”

The two women represented over 1,700 workers who are owed $2.2 million in severance pay. The workers are also owed health care premiums, which were deducted from their wages but never paid to the health care system. This meant that workers could not access health care in the four months

Continue reading Honduran Workers Demand $2.2 Million from Nike at Portland Area Workers’ Rights Board Hearing

Yesterday at Los Angeles City Hall, members of the Jobs with Justice National Workers’ Rights Board (WRB) were joined by other distinguished guests to hear gripping testimony about the hazards facing car wash workers.  Over 250 union and community members packed the room to overflowing to hear from workers, consumer, health and safety advocates, and United Steel Workers President Leo Gerard.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the panel and the audience, thanking the WRBs’ leadership for protecting workers, and praising the courage of the workers who are speaking out.  The Mayor pledged to remain engaged in this fight.  “We look forward to reviewing the recommendations from this board for addressing abuses in this industry,” said the Mayor.  “It’s important the public understand what’s going on at car washes in Los Angeles.”

Car wash workers reported being paid

Continue reading Cardinal, Los Angeles Mayor Hear from Car Wash Workers

Tennesseans, like others around the country, have watched in horror as the effective enforcement of labor standards dramatically declined. Many employers in the state have been quick to take advantage of a climate that has privileged business interests over workers and their unions.  Meanwhile, many agencies charged with upholding workplace standards have lacked the resources, or in some cases the political will, to firmly and consistently enforce the law. And it’s workers and their families that have paid the price!

This fall, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee (based in Knoxville), Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice (based in Nashville), and the Worker Interfaith Network of Memphis joined forces in a statewide effort to bring to light some of the worst cases of abuse, such as wage theft and violations of workplace health and safety.

Targeting primarily the Tennessee Department of Labor and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), the 3 groups are gearing up for a statewide series of workers’ rights board hearings to receive testimony from immigrant workers who have had their pay withheld for no

Continue reading Tennessee Hosts Traveling Workers’ Rights Board Tour on Wage Theft and Safety Violations

Did you know that Dallas iron workers are being abused and neglected on the job?  Hearing their stories of lack of adequate water, verbal abuse, and being forced (against OSHA standards) to buy their own safety equipment was sobering and motivating.  Learning that they were not treated when injured on the job, that they worked in fear of falling due to unstable scaffolding and that little safety training was offered…well, that left us feeling angry.

We are members of the North Texas Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board.  The Board is composed of concerned community leaders, including clergy, social workers, academics, labor organizers, teachers, students and lawyers.  Workers’ Rights Boards review worker complaints and conduct hearings, giving employers the chance to respond.  Boards, like the one in Dallas, can act as mediators between employees with unresolved grievances and employers who may be too focused on their company’s profit margin. 

Last fall, we were alerted to the struggle of workers employed by Great Western Erectors. Great Western Erectors (GWE) is based in Dallas and is one of the largest rebar and concrete reinforcing contractors in the nation.

Continue reading Dallas Ironworkers Abused on the Job, WRB Finds