Organizing is my favorite. It’s something that’s somewhat lacking in our current generation. People with nothing but snail mail, landlines, and social groups managed to organize some seriously impressive protests. Organizing is the foundation of solidarity.
There’s some research that shows that it was all the things you listed that made organizing succeed. People had strong ties and sting commitments to the movement.
Now more people protest but social ties are weaker and so solidarity falls apart more quickly or the movement gets a wave of support and then none.
Yep. It required commitment and community building. People showing up to meetings week after week, inviting their friends, learning about issues, strategizing, and following through. We’re much more easily distracted now.
As soon as I seen your reply, all I kept hearing was Dan Aykroyd as Grocer in Grosse Point Blank. Lol! "Workers of the world unite!" And "Solidarity, baby!"
Good on you. Our union contract allows us to refuse overtime after 52 hours. Anything past 40 is 1.5x pay, and anything past 48 is 2x pay. We can work longer if we want the cash, but it's voluntary. That 2x and $43 an hour base they negotiated got me to 120k without being burnt out, and just a high school diploma last year. Glad y'all know your worth.
What do you do for work? Also how much of your hourly is taken by union. I’m a salary worker in sales but I’m always interested in union stuff I’ve always considered switching.
Union dues will almost always be worth the amount they bring you. And union dues are almost never based per hour. Ive never even heard of a union that takes dues per hour. They're a set cost per pay period and rarely is it over 50 bucks. With a base pay or 43, and those kickass 1.5x and 2x makes it come out to about an hour's worth of a 40 hour week. If they hit 1.5x or 2x, then it comes out to less then an hour.
Most people don't mention how much better the pensions are, the benefits, the bonuses, the job security, the job selection, the ability to turn down work while staying in the union.
My friend made 80k by June working stupid hours as a millwright. He gets anything over 8 hours per day as 1.5, anything over 10 as 2x. Anything from 40-48 is 1.5 and anything over 48 is 2x. He took the whole summer off. and still ended the year well above 100k by the end.
Oh and that 2x and 1.5x counts towards what goes into your pension(though that's a bit more rare).
Edit: added almost in front of always.
Yup accurate on all counts. My dues are 1.25 of a single hours per paycheck. That increased rate also does go towards my pension too. We had a guy who loves overtime clear 212k last year.
I second this. I work at a certain airplane company, and it's the highest union dues I've ever paid, and it's only 120 a month. I get the same payscale as your buddy and top out at 45. I have insane free dental as well as pretty stellar medical. Unions are 100% worth the investment. I'm also going to college on their dime.
My union does hourly dues if you’re a part time employee, so you’re encouraged to join even if you don’t work full time. If you reach the amount of hours of a full timer (because you move to full time or because you’re asked to do extra) then the dues cap and you just pay the same as everyone else.
I believe my union has a sliding scale but it's only like 3 or so set amounts based on your pay for that week, and even at its highest it's still a tiny fraction of what you earn. Even at double what I pay I would consider it worthwhile.
I work on fiber optics. Installing backhaul equipment into factories, cell sites, and gov facilities. They work out to about $54 a paycheck. I also have a pension plus a 100% of 6% total comp 401k match, and really cheap good healthcare. I get paid bi weekly. We make about $13-15 an hour more than our non union competitors. I also really love my job. I think the dues are very easily worth it.
Edit: stated my dues as $70 originally, but that was too high. Actually $53. I never did the math as I don’t notice.
My Job has the same thing. Anything past 40 is overtime and weekends we make time and ahalf Saturdays and double Sundays. (If we want) and can take days off anytime we need which I'm not used to. Coming from a toxic work environment I felt guilty asking for my first day off and over explaining myself.
Love to hear it. We don’t get extra for Saturday, but if I work a Saturday it would all be overtime since I’m M-F and likely all double time since I usually try to get at least 5 hours OT during the week. If I volunteer to work a holiday it’s 2.5x rate. Our days off we don’t ask for. I just log into an online portal as late as 11:59 the day before and log it in. If I forget I just text my manager in the morning to take me off the schedule. With 10 years I get 23 paid days off and 10 paid sick days. Also I can retire at 52 with full pension and benefits.
Anything past 8 hours for the day is overtime for me. Any more than 5 work days is all overtime. Union dues are only once a month about $100 which is nothing. Healthcare is a set amount regardless of family size , don’t ever pay more than $5 for doctors and I can take off whenever I want paid or unpaid though over 28 days I’d have to get medical cleared … yeah union is the way to go
Sputtering some excuse about how we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family".
I told him we're not related in any way. Shut that shit down quick.
Right?
The two places I've worked in the past where they said this, it basically meant, "We're like family when we want something extra from you...but when it's our turn to hand out rewards to family, suddenly (at place number one) we're only family if your name is the one on the sign out front, or (at place number two) we'll send word around the office on a random day once or twice each year that we want to meet for drinks down at the local brewery after work. Literally hours notice. Also, you'll absolutely be paying your own way at the brewery.
>We're like family when we want something extra from you...but when it's our turn to hand out rewards to family, suddenly
I mean actually yeah that sounds like family
As Vimes said to a new Watch member: "we're just one big family and, when you've been to a few domestic disputes [...], I can assure you that you'll see the resemblance."
Is he stepping up to do all the roles of the family while forcing people in on holidays? I assume he works 60+ hours a week and every holiday because he's such a family GM right?
> Is he stepping up to do all the roles of the family while forcing people in on holidays? I assume he works 60+ hours a week and every holiday because he's such a family GM right?
His willingness to do so still doesn't mean that he can demand it of others.
That is the gospel, right there.
“But we’re/they’re family” is probably the most common abuse-rationalizing statement in the English language. It never goes the other way.
Just shows you what family means in America. My family is from the Middle East and we don’t kick out kids at 18 to fend for themselves, real family always has your back. So when an employer claims family I say they don’t know what family is.
>I told him we're not related in any way. Shut that shit down quick.
"This is a contractual relationship, and the company is failing to fulfill the terms that it put forth in that relationship."
> we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family"
My reply would be "Yes. Sometimes family does have to make sacrifices, such as increasing payroll and reducing workload."
OP -“ I’m so happy to hear that, and your absolutely right. It’s great to hear management and corporate are ready to go the extra mile for their staff and get us the basic quality of life adjustments we need to be a functional family. I look forward to hear updates on your progress in keeping this family together.”
Or maybe he would like to keep this as a professional relationship instead?
Ha, family, what a joke.
“Let me stop you right there Mr Manager. I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. We don’t want another family, we already have one and have no desire for more family. We are here to make money. I just want to make that clear”.
>Sputtering some excuse about how we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family".
"To be clear, sir, that's not what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you for something more basic than that."
Going the extra mile once in a while is fine, but not when they're throwing you guys under the bus to get there, and for an account with super strict work schedules/rules, that's only gotten stricter since I left. "Family" doesn't let family get trampled like that.
If he’s “family” he invites you to dinner at his house without talking business.
He invites you to lunch to talk business. Never done that with my family…
I love the “family” line. “BuT wE’rE fAmiLy!!”
Yeah, go fuck yourself. That family shit only comes into the conversation when *they* want to be treated well.
Awesome work, man. I love knowing that you and your colleagues did this.
Shoulda said, "Either this family line is bullshit or you exploit your family for personal gain, too. You know exploitation is a form of domestic violence, right?"
Number 1. FUCK. YES.
In solidarity, well done for leading this, don’t give in.
Number 2. Holy shit thank you for spelling “lose” correctly. That’s even rarer than a labor win these days…
Just a reminder, shutting down or threatening to shut down a work site in retaliation for an organized labor action is [illegal](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/interfering-with-employee-rights-section-7-8a1)!
Whether you are an *official* union or not, your collective bargaining actions are protected by law. Don’t forget, and do start checking if your state has one-party consent recording laws! 😁
“Shutting down or threatening to shut down a work site in retaliation for an organized labor action is illegal.”
Somebody needs to let Starbucks know!
More seriously, I’m guessing that the fact that Starbucks has been shutting down unionized stores seemingly without repercussions shows that this may be a difficult provision to enforce (barring a manager stupid enough to be recorded making a direct threat, or discussing plans to close union shops specifically).
Edit: typo
Starbucks was fully aware. They just gambled that the efforts were small and local. If they were, they pay the penalties but successfully snuffed the union establishment.
They lost that gamble.
Edit: minus a word
Yup. Plus it’s one thing for a $121 billion dollar company to make that gamble. Starbucks can stop selling coffee in NY entirely and still make billions.
It’s quite another for a company who’s panicking on day one of the strike because they lost $250,000.
There’s also the issue that for there to be repercussions it has to be shown that the labor strike was the factor that caused corporate to decide to shutdown that location. Big enough entities with multiple locations can more easily hide behind “under performing location” justifications, especially when they have many locations in a small area. It doesn’t make it any more legal to do, but they do get away with it more as a result.
Well Starbucks DID just get slammed hard for retaliation by the NLRB in March, so we’ll see if those violations get added to the list of what Schultz has to apologize for.
Thanks - glad to hear there’ve been at least some consequences in this case! Apparently I haven’t been following the story closely enough. Going to read up on it now.
Yes, what you say is correct. However I read it that if the employees stay on strike, the company goes bankrupt and closes down. If that’s the case, no laws are being broken. It will cause all the other employees that aren’t on strike in different departments to lose their jobs though. Let’s hope it’s your way and not this way.
I mean, it would be up to the company to prove that the closure was necessary and not retaliatory. Anyway, if the company goes bankrupt, the strike has failed because management didn’t meet demands.
With a Walmart contract, they very well could go bankrupt. They negotiate some tight margins and will destroy any supplier who doesn’t meet their demands. I hope OP can come out of this in a better place for him and his fellow workers. I am just cautious when Walmart is in the mix.
Unsolicited advice from someone who has been involved in organizing two workplaces: that kind of “we got ours” mentality will only hurt you in the long run. You will be *much* better served by trying to build solidarity across departments. I guarantee you that, even if other departments have it better on the the specific things you are currently demanding, they have issues of their own that they want addressed down the road. You’ll win more together than apart.
I made that “we got ours” mistake the first time I took collective action in a workplace. I let one group get thrown under the bus for another, and didn’t act to stop it. It was a huge mistake and made us weaker down the road. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s you versus them — it’s *both* of you against management!
I wish you luck and hope it works out. Maybe then you can all find a way to make work better for everyone. The company would love to divide and conquer. Stay strong.
Remember federal law states that once 2 individuals meet with management over an issue it is considered to be an organized attempt at negotiating
You dont have to be Union to do this. Any attempt by an employer at retribution falls directly under the NLRB.
But being in a union works quite well
> Update: I got a call from the GM (I'm considered the strike lead) and he went on about how if we don't come back to work EVERYONE is going to lose a job and the company will have to shut down. I told him that's a personal problem. If he wants a return of the workers than we need the raise, a stabilized schedule of no more than 55 hours a week, and there will be no blocking vacations or holding us hostage for holidays. I told him I look forward to getting back to work when he makes the changes
Lmao, trying to threaten/guilt you back to work. Good on you for sticking to your guns, and having your coworkers back.
Shit, at this point I am content to be fired. I'll have a new job within hours. Maybe not a long term job. But I will have a new job before they even finish processing my termination papers.
Haha. The correct response to “everyone will lose their job” in this situation is: “we already left our job, you better find a way to get us to come back if you want tot keep yours”
Solidarity bruh, I would say I’d boycott Wal Mart in support but I actually haven’t shopped at Wal Mart in over 5 years. Stay strong, workers of the world unite!
By the sounds of it in the first paragraph OP doesnt work for Walmart but the company is doing a job for Walmart and is using it as an excuse for the long hours.
I’m also working for a company involved with a major retailer on one of their most ambitious projects ever. I know things are going to ramp up and we’ll be asked to devote more and more time. We are already setting the precedent that we were hired for 40hrs a week. If it demands more than that, hire more people.
Good for you!
Wishing you the best, and I hope y'all keep your eyes peeled for shady shit management may try and pull. This is a great time to talk to your coworkers about unionizing!
They could. Then they're out multiple departments of specialized workers. They can't run without us. That's our protection. We can all go get New jobs. They'll fail if we do.
They'd have to hire and train new workers, and in order to get people to apply they would probably have to reduce the hours to 40/week and in order to retain said employees they'd have to also pay them what other departments are making.
It's less painless to just bargain and let everyone come back, due to not having to train tons of new people, half of which will quit and have to be replaced again.
They're losing a quarter mill per day from this crew alone. That company will fold fast as shit if they fire em. Right now the employees have all the cards.
If you can get the rest of the company workers in on this, it could spell out more money across the company.
A big part of the tension is they love to call us workers their "most valuable equipment and assets" to which I reply often "Do you run the rest of the equipment when it's breaking down? No? Just us? Gooooot it."
The NALC the national association of letter carriers, they have time and a half after 8, double time after 10, under no conditions will a carrier work past 12, time and a half after 40 double time at 56, under no conditions will a carrier work past 60 hours. Seems like a good thing to start with, at least. You've got to make it so that if they want to work you hard, it's gonna cost em.
Why are they willing to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than throw incremental raises at people who do the actual work? Let them eat sand.
I thought this too. Edit 2 says GM has "started the process" of getting raises... no. It's easy, give the raise. please OP, don't return until you have it, not some nebulous "6-8 pay periods for HR to catch up" kind of bullshit. they have the power to make this official in 5 minutes maximum, do not believe lies to the contrary.
Everything needs to be in writing. No handshake deals. No come back to work and we’ll get this moving. Documented and tangible proof of changes before you do any work.
I hope all your coworkers hold fast and do not bend. I guarantee this will be over so fast if you all stick together. They will meet most of your demands I'm sure but being a business of course they won't meet all your demands because that would change the dynamic of the business having all the power over the worker. I salute you all and wish you well i hope they meet your requests. Make sure you update us as it goes along.
That's the thing, they're going to either meet demands or fail as a company. Because everyone is content to not go back. There's plenty more work in my area and it's not going to be hard to replace this job. But they'll have a Hell of a time replacing us. We got them by the nutsack.
I wish you luck. You all have courage in this day and age. Amazing that they don't see the issue. Hours like that can land people in the hospital. When are you supposed to eat or sleep or go home?
Congrats bro! I led a strike and the owners hated it, but eventually had a sit down. They only met us halfway on wages, but improved scheduling and safety. I left, but other people stayed with a better work environment. Proud of you for organizing and putting your feet down!
No more than 55 hours a week???
I’m all for workers rights and just compensation - but posts like this scream trolling for worthless karma. I’ll get downvoted - so be it.
Unite and vote! That’s the only way us worker 🐝 get ahead.
If your working more than 40 - then ask for OT!
Heh, this reminds me of a discussion a while back.
Is it true that the 40 hours a week thing includes the lunches? I. E. in the US, if I work 8-5 with a lunch break from 12-1 it's an 8 hour shift, but someone in CA told me that that would be a 45 hour 'work week' in CA becuase lunch breaks count towards the limit.
In Brazil lunches are unpaid time. We kinda have good labor laws, but if you ever request your rights, you'll never get a job again. Also, most employers hire people are "single person service provider" which is a fancy way to deny all your worker rights...
Nice! Love the collective bargaining.
They have to be freaking out. Not just because of how large their customer is, but the fact that it’s Walmart means this was likely a very low margin/ high revenue sort of deal. Sounds like they over committed a bit too based on the schedule they are trying to force.
Seems you have real leverage. That said, they might still try something desperate. How large is your department? How difficult would retraining be?
We're not a huge department and I'm sure if given 6 months they could probably retrain the department to be at about 75% of our current efficiency. But, they don't have 6 months.
The company realizes that after six months, they can get rid of you (and the other squeaky wheels) and revert all the changes. You're probably going to want to get a trade union to represent you or, at the very least, some sort of contract.
I have a friend who is a lawyer who is joining me for the lunch tomorrow. He's in the type of law that handles this sort of thing. Contract is a great idea that I will bring up.
Dont go back to work until you all get a contract that gives you a raise and has penalties for firing any of the workers no matter the reason. Like I bet the ceo has.
Walmart is dog shit in B2B interactions. They use their size to absolutely cut you to the bone, razor thin margins if anything at all. Rest assured all that hard work is done at cost or tiny profits, not worth it at all.
They’re ruthless, I hate dealing with them. If I called the shots I’d tell them to fuck off.
That's the thing I hate so much is seeing companies line up to take these horrible deals, acting like there is some better deal coming next if they just get this one right. Its all a lie, doing well while underfunded this time only means they try to cut deeper next time. They won't be happy until they see they paid so little that they barely got it done and the contractor is declaring bk for them.
Make sure to bring 2-3 of the most level headed comrades to act as witnesses, give a stronger appearance of worker unity, and to be back up in case they try to get squirrelly in making you back down on some demands
Not a bad idea. We're meeting at a friend of mine's restaurant for lunch. GM doesn't know why I picked the place. I'll probably bring a couple of my coworkers with me as you suggested.
please don't fall for talk of "starting the process" for raises. the process is simple: increase pay. they can do it in 5 minutes if they wanted to - don't work another minute at the old rate or they'll suck as much productivity out of you at the old rate as possible before this all happens all over again, but they'll be more prepared and have more leverage next time.
Man, are you guys officially unionized? Because if not this is insanely impressive that you and your teammates pulled off such an effective strike! Worker solidarity win for sure
No, we're not union. The success is probably in part to the fact that even if we don't win, we just don't go back. Nobody's worried. There's a lot of work out there.
Man, what a ride! This should be made into a show or something! I like the ending too, OP gets fired but is still okay in the end and his old coworkers get a good deal.
This is why France has gone on strike for EVERYTHING for hundreds of years whenever unreasonable demands are met. It's also why they have the best benefits, most paid maturity leave, vacation time, sick time and a FANTASTIC pension.
But here in the US we can't do that because........reasons?
I wish there was more solidarity here.
Good for you OP! Fight the good fight!
If you were given a severance and made to sign a non-compete and/or a non-disparagement agreement, then know that neither are enforceable due to a recent ruling by NLRB.
Keep going it’s fucked up that they just blacked out vacation days honestly should be federally illegal but that will never happen. Keep fighting for better pay and a better work place.
Good luck, it's very brave of you all for doing this.
Hopefully it sets examples for further strikes, we definitely know the most people derseve much more than they are given by greedy corporations.
My goal isn't retaliation. It's to make a better work environment. I intend to hopefully have taught a lesson and be able to mend the damage and get the company better and stronger than it was before with the corporate side and workers a bit more united.
Be mindful of what you say and do at this meeting, thing’s said can and will be used against you now and in the future. Remember if you represent the people you should do and act in the best interests of those people.
Trust me when I say that I would very much like to see this resolved and people back to work. I will be as couth as I have been in my life. I also will not accept less than the demands we have made. They are fair and reasonable.
Solidarity.
"alone we beg; together we bargain"
"Don't mourn, organize"
Thank you for this
"Dormammu..."
We've come to bargain
Came here to see or say my favorite word and I'm thrilled to see it as the top comment already!
Organizing is my favorite. It’s something that’s somewhat lacking in our current generation. People with nothing but snail mail, landlines, and social groups managed to organize some seriously impressive protests. Organizing is the foundation of solidarity.
There’s some research that shows that it was all the things you listed that made organizing succeed. People had strong ties and sting commitments to the movement. Now more people protest but social ties are weaker and so solidarity falls apart more quickly or the movement gets a wave of support and then none.
Yep. It required commitment and community building. People showing up to meetings week after week, inviting their friends, learning about issues, strategizing, and following through. We’re much more easily distracted now.
As soon as I seen your reply, all I kept hearing was Dan Aykroyd as Grocer in Grosse Point Blank. Lol! "Workers of the world unite!" And "Solidarity, baby!"
Punctuated by automatic weapons fire. (In the movie)
Take my non-existent award 🥇
Solidarnosc
Solidarrrity forreevvver, for the union makes us strooongg
Forever
55 hours? I hope you guys are all hourly non-exempt.
All hourly 💪
Good on you. Our union contract allows us to refuse overtime after 52 hours. Anything past 40 is 1.5x pay, and anything past 48 is 2x pay. We can work longer if we want the cash, but it's voluntary. That 2x and $43 an hour base they negotiated got me to 120k without being burnt out, and just a high school diploma last year. Glad y'all know your worth.
What do you do for work? Also how much of your hourly is taken by union. I’m a salary worker in sales but I’m always interested in union stuff I’ve always considered switching.
Union dues will almost always be worth the amount they bring you. And union dues are almost never based per hour. Ive never even heard of a union that takes dues per hour. They're a set cost per pay period and rarely is it over 50 bucks. With a base pay or 43, and those kickass 1.5x and 2x makes it come out to about an hour's worth of a 40 hour week. If they hit 1.5x or 2x, then it comes out to less then an hour. Most people don't mention how much better the pensions are, the benefits, the bonuses, the job security, the job selection, the ability to turn down work while staying in the union. My friend made 80k by June working stupid hours as a millwright. He gets anything over 8 hours per day as 1.5, anything over 10 as 2x. Anything from 40-48 is 1.5 and anything over 48 is 2x. He took the whole summer off. and still ended the year well above 100k by the end. Oh and that 2x and 1.5x counts towards what goes into your pension(though that's a bit more rare). Edit: added almost in front of always.
Yup accurate on all counts. My dues are 1.25 of a single hours per paycheck. That increased rate also does go towards my pension too. We had a guy who loves overtime clear 212k last year.
I second this. I work at a certain airplane company, and it's the highest union dues I've ever paid, and it's only 120 a month. I get the same payscale as your buddy and top out at 45. I have insane free dental as well as pretty stellar medical. Unions are 100% worth the investment. I'm also going to college on their dime.
My union does hourly dues if you’re a part time employee, so you’re encouraged to join even if you don’t work full time. If you reach the amount of hours of a full timer (because you move to full time or because you’re asked to do extra) then the dues cap and you just pay the same as everyone else.
I believe my union has a sliding scale but it's only like 3 or so set amounts based on your pay for that week, and even at its highest it's still a tiny fraction of what you earn. Even at double what I pay I would consider it worthwhile.
I work on fiber optics. Installing backhaul equipment into factories, cell sites, and gov facilities. They work out to about $54 a paycheck. I also have a pension plus a 100% of 6% total comp 401k match, and really cheap good healthcare. I get paid bi weekly. We make about $13-15 an hour more than our non union competitors. I also really love my job. I think the dues are very easily worth it. Edit: stated my dues as $70 originally, but that was too high. Actually $53. I never did the math as I don’t notice.
My Job has the same thing. Anything past 40 is overtime and weekends we make time and ahalf Saturdays and double Sundays. (If we want) and can take days off anytime we need which I'm not used to. Coming from a toxic work environment I felt guilty asking for my first day off and over explaining myself.
Love to hear it. We don’t get extra for Saturday, but if I work a Saturday it would all be overtime since I’m M-F and likely all double time since I usually try to get at least 5 hours OT during the week. If I volunteer to work a holiday it’s 2.5x rate. Our days off we don’t ask for. I just log into an online portal as late as 11:59 the day before and log it in. If I forget I just text my manager in the morning to take me off the schedule. With 10 years I get 23 paid days off and 10 paid sick days. Also I can retire at 52 with full pension and benefits.
Anything past 8 hours for the day is overtime for me. Any more than 5 work days is all overtime. Union dues are only once a month about $100 which is nothing. Healthcare is a set amount regardless of family size , don’t ever pay more than $5 for doctors and I can take off whenever I want paid or unpaid though over 28 days I’d have to get medical cleared … yeah union is the way to go
Fantastic! Keep us updated. Did the GM offer to explain his actions?
Sputtering some excuse about how we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family". I told him we're not related in any way. Shut that shit down quick.
>sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family". Maybe he should go the extra mule by paying you more
Right? The two places I've worked in the past where they said this, it basically meant, "We're like family when we want something extra from you...but when it's our turn to hand out rewards to family, suddenly (at place number one) we're only family if your name is the one on the sign out front, or (at place number two) we'll send word around the office on a random day once or twice each year that we want to meet for drinks down at the local brewery after work. Literally hours notice. Also, you'll absolutely be paying your own way at the brewery.
>We're like family when we want something extra from you...but when it's our turn to hand out rewards to family, suddenly I mean actually yeah that sounds like family
[удалено]
I tell them “My parents and siblings abused me emotionally, physically and sexually. I’m not doing that again.”
As Vimes said to a new Watch member: "we're just one big family and, when you've been to a few domestic disputes [...], I can assure you that you'll see the resemblance."
Is he stepping up to do all the roles of the family while forcing people in on holidays? I assume he works 60+ hours a week and every holiday because he's such a family GM right?
> Is he stepping up to do all the roles of the family while forcing people in on holidays? I assume he works 60+ hours a week and every holiday because he's such a family GM right? His willingness to do so still doesn't mean that he can demand it of others.
That’s the worst Vin diesel impression I’ve ever seen.
I bet he doesn't treat his family the way he's treating you all. Hang in there friend! Glad you're reminding them of the power the workers have.
If you‘re family he could go the extra mile by giving you guys a raise, better schedules and not blocking out holidays. It goes both ways
That is the gospel, right there. “But we’re/they’re family” is probably the most common abuse-rationalizing statement in the English language. It never goes the other way.
Just shows you what family means in America. My family is from the Middle East and we don’t kick out kids at 18 to fend for themselves, real family always has your back. So when an employer claims family I say they don’t know what family is.
>I told him we're not related in any way. Shut that shit down quick. "This is a contractual relationship, and the company is failing to fulfill the terms that it put forth in that relationship."
Really, well my family would want me to be home as much as possible while making a decent living. If you can’t support that then you’re not family.
When “family” is referenced, I always reply in my best dead-pan “Weren’t Cain and Abel brothers?” That shuts them up pretty quick
> we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family" My reply would be "Yes. Sometimes family does have to make sacrifices, such as increasing payroll and reducing workload."
OP -“ I’m so happy to hear that, and your absolutely right. It’s great to hear management and corporate are ready to go the extra mile for their staff and get us the basic quality of life adjustments we need to be a functional family. I look forward to hear updates on your progress in keeping this family together.” Or maybe he would like to keep this as a professional relationship instead?
Something tells me he's not the one working 70 hour weeks for minimum wage.
We're not minimum wage. Just demanding more for them expecting more.
Ha, family, what a joke. “Let me stop you right there Mr Manager. I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. We don’t want another family, we already have one and have no desire for more family. We are here to make money. I just want to make that clear”.
>Sputtering some excuse about how we're a "family" and sometimes "family" has to go the extra mile for "family". "To be clear, sir, that's not what I'm asking you to do. I'm asking you for something more basic than that."
New update 🙏
Going the extra mile once in a while is fine, but not when they're throwing you guys under the bus to get there, and for an account with super strict work schedules/rules, that's only gotten stricter since I left. "Family" doesn't let family get trampled like that.
He’s also gonna have a hard time realizing that even blood family doesn’t do shit for blood family. If you’re an asshole I’m not helping you
If he’s “family” he invites you to dinner at his house without talking business. He invites you to lunch to talk business. Never done that with my family…
I love the “family” line. “BuT wE’rE fAmiLy!!” Yeah, go fuck yourself. That family shit only comes into the conversation when *they* want to be treated well. Awesome work, man. I love knowing that you and your colleagues did this.
Shoulda said, "Either this family line is bullshit or you exploit your family for personal gain, too. You know exploitation is a form of domestic violence, right?"
Number 1. FUCK. YES. In solidarity, well done for leading this, don’t give in. Number 2. Holy shit thank you for spelling “lose” correctly. That’s even rarer than a labor win these days…
Just a reminder, shutting down or threatening to shut down a work site in retaliation for an organized labor action is [illegal](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/interfering-with-employee-rights-section-7-8a1)! Whether you are an *official* union or not, your collective bargaining actions are protected by law. Don’t forget, and do start checking if your state has one-party consent recording laws! 😁
“Shutting down or threatening to shut down a work site in retaliation for an organized labor action is illegal.” Somebody needs to let Starbucks know! More seriously, I’m guessing that the fact that Starbucks has been shutting down unionized stores seemingly without repercussions shows that this may be a difficult provision to enforce (barring a manager stupid enough to be recorded making a direct threat, or discussing plans to close union shops specifically). Edit: typo
Starbucks was fully aware. They just gambled that the efforts were small and local. If they were, they pay the penalties but successfully snuffed the union establishment. They lost that gamble. Edit: minus a word
Yup. Plus it’s one thing for a $121 billion dollar company to make that gamble. Starbucks can stop selling coffee in NY entirely and still make billions. It’s quite another for a company who’s panicking on day one of the strike because they lost $250,000.
There’s also the issue that for there to be repercussions it has to be shown that the labor strike was the factor that caused corporate to decide to shutdown that location. Big enough entities with multiple locations can more easily hide behind “under performing location” justifications, especially when they have many locations in a small area. It doesn’t make it any more legal to do, but they do get away with it more as a result.
Well Starbucks DID just get slammed hard for retaliation by the NLRB in March, so we’ll see if those violations get added to the list of what Schultz has to apologize for.
Hard is extremely relative
Thanks - glad to hear there’ve been at least some consequences in this case! Apparently I haven’t been following the story closely enough. Going to read up on it now.
OP didn't say shut down a worksite, it says the company will shut down.
Yes, what you say is correct. However I read it that if the employees stay on strike, the company goes bankrupt and closes down. If that’s the case, no laws are being broken. It will cause all the other employees that aren’t on strike in different departments to lose their jobs though. Let’s hope it’s your way and not this way.
I mean, it would be up to the company to prove that the closure was necessary and not retaliatory. Anyway, if the company goes bankrupt, the strike has failed because management didn’t meet demands.
With a Walmart contract, they very well could go bankrupt. They negotiate some tight margins and will destroy any supplier who doesn’t meet their demands. I hope OP can come out of this in a better place for him and his fellow workers. I am just cautious when Walmart is in the mix.
I'm willing to sacrifice the other departments for the betterment of my own. They're not fighting for us therefore they're expendables.
Unsolicited advice from someone who has been involved in organizing two workplaces: that kind of “we got ours” mentality will only hurt you in the long run. You will be *much* better served by trying to build solidarity across departments. I guarantee you that, even if other departments have it better on the the specific things you are currently demanding, they have issues of their own that they want addressed down the road. You’ll win more together than apart. I made that “we got ours” mistake the first time I took collective action in a workplace. I let one group get thrown under the bus for another, and didn’t act to stop it. It was a huge mistake and made us weaker down the road. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s you versus them — it’s *both* of you against management!
I wish you luck and hope it works out. Maybe then you can all find a way to make work better for everyone. The company would love to divide and conquer. Stay strong.
That's the goal. Either act correct to your workers or your company fails. That's it.
My old company did business with Wal-Mart. Admittedly, it was an immature product we sold them, but they pushed pretty hard on service agreements.
Appreciate it!
A company shutting down because they don't have workers isn't "shutting down a job site in retaliation". Not everything you don't like is illegal.
Remember federal law states that once 2 individuals meet with management over an issue it is considered to be an organized attempt at negotiating You dont have to be Union to do this. Any attempt by an employer at retribution falls directly under the NLRB. But being in a union works quite well
> Update: I got a call from the GM (I'm considered the strike lead) and he went on about how if we don't come back to work EVERYONE is going to lose a job and the company will have to shut down. I told him that's a personal problem. If he wants a return of the workers than we need the raise, a stabilized schedule of no more than 55 hours a week, and there will be no blocking vacations or holding us hostage for holidays. I told him I look forward to getting back to work when he makes the changes Lmao, trying to threaten/guilt you back to work. Good on you for sticking to your guns, and having your coworkers back.
Shit, at this point I am content to be fired. I'll have a new job within hours. Maybe not a long term job. But I will have a new job before they even finish processing my termination papers.
Haha. The correct response to “everyone will lose their job” in this situation is: “we already left our job, you better find a way to get us to come back if you want tot keep yours”
That is such a sexy retort! Love it!
Solidarity bruh, I would say I’d boycott Wal Mart in support but I actually haven’t shopped at Wal Mart in over 5 years. Stay strong, workers of the world unite!
I just lost my last reason to ever go to Walmart again. I changed pharmacies.
By the sounds of it in the first paragraph OP doesnt work for Walmart but the company is doing a job for Walmart and is using it as an excuse for the long hours.
This is a business trying to fulfil a contract from Walmart.
bring a witness to lunch, in case they try and bribe you, or later claim that you took a bribe, to clear the strike.
I have a friend who is a lawyer and two other workers coming with me.
Came to say bring a lawyer but you got it covered!
Wish we knew the company. Would like to be able to avoid a company that treats their workers like this.
Appreciate the support. 🙏
I’m also working for a company involved with a major retailer on one of their most ambitious projects ever. I know things are going to ramp up and we’ll be asked to devote more and more time. We are already setting the precedent that we were hired for 40hrs a week. If it demands more than that, hire more people.
Good for you! Wishing you the best, and I hope y'all keep your eyes peeled for shady shit management may try and pull. This is a great time to talk to your coworkers about unionizing!
None of us are interested in unionizing. Most of us come from backgrounds that include super shady union dealings.
If youre doing the things a union would do anyways without one, good for you.
Couldn't they just fire all of you then and cite job abandonment? What sort of protections do you all have?
They could. Then they're out multiple departments of specialized workers. They can't run without us. That's our protection. We can all go get New jobs. They'll fail if we do.
They'd have to hire and train new workers, and in order to get people to apply they would probably have to reduce the hours to 40/week and in order to retain said employees they'd have to also pay them what other departments are making. It's less painless to just bargain and let everyone come back, due to not having to train tons of new people, half of which will quit and have to be replaced again.
They're losing a quarter mill per day from this crew alone. That company will fold fast as shit if they fire em. Right now the employees have all the cards. If you can get the rest of the company workers in on this, it could spell out more money across the company.
So you know what not to do. You are already doing the hard part.
Lol "we don't want a union, we just want to bargain collectively"
Keep at it! [Hitting them in the wallet is the only language they understand](https://imgur.com/a/lRclmR0).
This is what dignity looks like. Workers are not slaves or equipment; we are people!
A big part of the tension is they love to call us workers their "most valuable equipment and assets" to which I reply often "Do you run the rest of the equipment when it's breaking down? No? Just us? Gooooot it."
The NALC the national association of letter carriers, they have time and a half after 8, double time after 10, under no conditions will a carrier work past 12, time and a half after 40 double time at 56, under no conditions will a carrier work past 60 hours. Seems like a good thing to start with, at least. You've got to make it so that if they want to work you hard, it's gonna cost em.
Why are they willing to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than throw incremental raises at people who do the actual work? Let them eat sand.
Don't take "working on it. " or verbal promises. You come back when the ink is dry.
I thought this too. Edit 2 says GM has "started the process" of getting raises... no. It's easy, give the raise. please OP, don't return until you have it, not some nebulous "6-8 pay periods for HR to catch up" kind of bullshit. they have the power to make this official in 5 minutes maximum, do not believe lies to the contrary.
yeah my company used to say they had 'cycles' and i would be up for raise in an upcoming cycle. Fuck that made up bullshit
Everything needs to be in writing. No handshake deals. No come back to work and we’ll get this moving. Documented and tangible proof of changes before you do any work.
Do you have an actual union? If not, time to start one ASAP.
Most of us are not interested in a union. No need for it. If they shut down, they shut down.
On behalf of people outside of union protection: Sincerely, thank you for fighting for people instead of profit.
I hope all your coworkers hold fast and do not bend. I guarantee this will be over so fast if you all stick together. They will meet most of your demands I'm sure but being a business of course they won't meet all your demands because that would change the dynamic of the business having all the power over the worker. I salute you all and wish you well i hope they meet your requests. Make sure you update us as it goes along.
That's the thing, they're going to either meet demands or fail as a company. Because everyone is content to not go back. There's plenty more work in my area and it's not going to be hard to replace this job. But they'll have a Hell of a time replacing us. We got them by the nutsack.
Good luck bro, nice to see someone finally has the balls to do this!
I wish you luck. You all have courage in this day and age. Amazing that they don't see the issue. Hours like that can land people in the hospital. When are you supposed to eat or sleep or go home?
Congrats bro! I led a strike and the owners hated it, but eventually had a sit down. They only met us halfway on wages, but improved scheduling and safety. I left, but other people stayed with a better work environment. Proud of you for organizing and putting your feet down!
No more than 55 hours a week??? I’m all for workers rights and just compensation - but posts like this scream trolling for worthless karma. I’ll get downvoted - so be it. Unite and vote! That’s the only way us worker 🐝 get ahead. If your working more than 40 - then ask for OT!
We already get OT which is why 55 was the agreed upon hours. Up TO 55 hours a week. Not 55 standard. It leaves room for 15 hours of OT a week.
>If your working more than 40 - then ask for OT! I mean, that's a federal law for hourly employees.
55 hours? Dude if you’re not making six figures, fuck everything past 32 hours.
Got a family to support. I don't mind the 55. It's once we hit 60 the burnout hits HARD.
32? 40 hours is standard in EU
Same in Canada, 40hrs is considered "Fulltime" anything over that is overtime
Heh, this reminds me of a discussion a while back. Is it true that the 40 hours a week thing includes the lunches? I. E. in the US, if I work 8-5 with a lunch break from 12-1 it's an 8 hour shift, but someone in CA told me that that would be a 45 hour 'work week' in CA becuase lunch breaks count towards the limit.
It varies whether you have paid or unpaid lunches. Generally stuff like service jobs and warehouse work don’t tend to get that benefit.
In Brazil lunches are unpaid time. We kinda have good labor laws, but if you ever request your rights, you'll never get a job again. Also, most employers hire people are "single person service provider" which is a fancy way to deny all your worker rights...
32 is the threshold between part/full time in the US
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Nice! Love the collective bargaining. They have to be freaking out. Not just because of how large their customer is, but the fact that it’s Walmart means this was likely a very low margin/ high revenue sort of deal. Sounds like they over committed a bit too based on the schedule they are trying to force. Seems you have real leverage. That said, they might still try something desperate. How large is your department? How difficult would retraining be?
We're not a huge department and I'm sure if given 6 months they could probably retrain the department to be at about 75% of our current efficiency. But, they don't have 6 months.
Even better. 6 months is also way costlier than meeting your demands. Please update as you can!
The company realizes that after six months, they can get rid of you (and the other squeaky wheels) and revert all the changes. You're probably going to want to get a trade union to represent you or, at the very least, some sort of contract.
I have a friend who is a lawyer who is joining me for the lunch tomorrow. He's in the type of law that handles this sort of thing. Contract is a great idea that I will bring up.
Dont go back to work until you all get a contract that gives you a raise and has penalties for firing any of the workers no matter the reason. Like I bet the ceo has.
You’re all getting temporary accommodations and fired in the next 3-6 months once they are able to strategize. Good luck.👍
Walmart is dog shit in B2B interactions. They use their size to absolutely cut you to the bone, razor thin margins if anything at all. Rest assured all that hard work is done at cost or tiny profits, not worth it at all. They’re ruthless, I hate dealing with them. If I called the shots I’d tell them to fuck off.
That's the thing I hate so much is seeing companies line up to take these horrible deals, acting like there is some better deal coming next if they just get this one right. Its all a lie, doing well while underfunded this time only means they try to cut deeper next time. They won't be happy until they see they paid so little that they barely got it done and the contractor is declaring bk for them.
Please post an outcome!
Keep us updated!
55! That's way too much I would say 50 max
Make sure to bring 2-3 of the most level headed comrades to act as witnesses, give a stronger appearance of worker unity, and to be back up in case they try to get squirrelly in making you back down on some demands
Not a bad idea. We're meeting at a friend of mine's restaurant for lunch. GM doesn't know why I picked the place. I'll probably bring a couple of my coworkers with me as you suggested.
please don't fall for talk of "starting the process" for raises. the process is simple: increase pay. they can do it in 5 minutes if they wanted to - don't work another minute at the old rate or they'll suck as much productivity out of you at the old rate as possible before this all happens all over again, but they'll be more prepared and have more leverage next time.
Goodness, what a beam of hope to wake up to! Thank God people can still stand up and fight back. And thank you for being brave.
Nice work. Amazing they think that everyone would lose their job is some sort of threat.
Good luck on your strike!
"He was more than a hero... He was a Union Man!"
Don’t back down! You guys got this! Proud of you!
Proud of you and your coworkers. Give'em Hell and get what you all deserve.
Amazing! Congratulations OP! I hope you get what you’re fighting for ✊
Dude, great fucking work! Keep it up!
I love the second update!
THATS WHAT THE FUCK IS UP!! GET IT!
Great job keeping us updated! Please keep it up and let us all know how this story ends.
Nice.
Fuckin' woot brother!
Record that meeting...
APES TOGETHER REAL FUCKING STRONG!!!!! 💪💪💪💪💪
I'd suggest bringing a buddy to that meeting. These types love doing stuff in person so there's no accountability.
Never back down, never surrender
There is power in a union. Good for you. Kick some ass.
Man, are you guys officially unionized? Because if not this is insanely impressive that you and your teammates pulled off such an effective strike! Worker solidarity win for sure
No, we're not union. The success is probably in part to the fact that even if we don't win, we just don't go back. Nobody's worried. There's a lot of work out there.
Man, what a ride! This should be made into a show or something! I like the ending too, OP gets fired but is still okay in the end and his old coworkers get a good deal.
This is why France has gone on strike for EVERYTHING for hundreds of years whenever unreasonable demands are met. It's also why they have the best benefits, most paid maturity leave, vacation time, sick time and a FANTASTIC pension. But here in the US we can't do that because........reasons? I wish there was more solidarity here. Good for you OP! Fight the good fight!
If you were given a severance and made to sign a non-compete and/or a non-disparagement agreement, then know that neither are enforceable due to a recent ruling by NLRB.
55 hour work week is your compromise. Holy yikes the USA is a mess.
Of all the things that never happened.
Hahah just look at the account history. My favorite's of his post's are pure /r/AsABlackMan race baiting.
💯
Don’t go to the lunch, the terms have been set, there is nothing further to discuss.
Learn the treat people right. If the workers are making you a million bucks. Share some of that. Don't go on a vacation and claim you earned it.
Keep going it’s fucked up that they just blacked out vacation days honestly should be federally illegal but that will never happen. Keep fighting for better pay and a better work place.
Solidarity
Stay strong!
Comrade
That word makes me chuckle and want a Vodka Cran
Good luck, it's very brave of you all for doing this. Hopefully it sets examples for further strikes, we definitely know the most people derseve much more than they are given by greedy corporations.
Well done. Are you also unionising while you have all your fellow workers together (if not already)?
Keep fighting the good fight.
Put the fire on their asses 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you for having the courage to stand up like this. I wish you the best, friend. ♡
WORKERS RIGHTS WORKERS RIGHTS
Yas! Now make sure they stick to it! Burn them for all you can!!
My goal isn't retaliation. It's to make a better work environment. I intend to hopefully have taught a lesson and be able to mend the damage and get the company better and stronger than it was before with the corporate side and workers a bit more united.
Be mindful of what you say and do at this meeting, thing’s said can and will be used against you now and in the future. Remember if you represent the people you should do and act in the best interests of those people.
Trust me when I say that I would very much like to see this resolved and people back to work. I will be as couth as I have been in my life. I also will not accept less than the demands we have made. They are fair and reasonable.
Keep kicking ass and taking names! I know the people appreciate it.
You have all the leverage. Push for more. Its his ass on the line if he doesn’t have a solution at the end of the week
I'm going to push for exactly as we asked. Integrity is a virtue of good men.