Jimmy John's Workers Union

Hello to anyone who may be reading this!  It's been a long time since I last updated this blog.  Since I last posted, I have gotten a new job and quit my old job as a bicycle delivery guy at Jimmy John's.  Read the full post to see what's been going on there since I left...

  .  A couple months before I left, the workers at the 10 Minneapolis JJ's franchises owned by the Mulligan family filed to form a union.  I supported the union, thinking that the multi-millionaire Mulligans can afford to pay the employees who have made them rich with their hard work a little more than $7.25/hour.  If successful, it would be the first fast-food restaurant in the nation to become unionized.  JJ's employees, including me, were upset at the business practices of the franchises, including:

• Not allowing tip jars in the stores
• No requesting time off - if you wanted time off you had to call around and find a substitute yourself
• No benefits
• Too short shifts - Often workers would be scheduled for 3-hour shifts only to be sent home after 1-2 hours of work every time
• Low wages
• Lack of Sick Days

  After 3 months of union organizing, and union-busting by Mike and Rob Mulligan (including hiring an anti-union consultant from Nevada, having mandatory anti-union meetings, and other possibly illegal tactics), the workers voted on Oct. 22nd on whether to have a union, and the union lost, 87 to 85 (see this Star Tribune article for the details).  Workers quitting (like me) and people viewing their jobs as temporary also may have contributed to the union's loss.

The union campaign is ongoing, however.  On January 10th, the union election results were nullified due to Labor Rights Violations by Jimmy John's! (go here for a newspaper article or here for the union's point of view).  The settlement with the Labor Relations Board included these terms: the franchise agreed not to threaten/fire union supporters, not to withhold raises b/c of the union campaign, and the union is eligible to have another election in 60 days.

I think that this quote from the Pioneer Press sums up the situation well:

If the company refuses to negotiate, "then we will begin to put pressure on the company again and we might opt for another election," said Erik Forman, a union activist and driver for one of the St. Louis Park shops.

"What we are asking for is not unreasonable," he said. "We're hoping they decide to take the high road from here on out and work with us to bring some positive changes to the industry."

Mulligan [owner of the franchises] could not be reached for comment.