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Lively IWW Pickets at Metro Lighting
The San Francisco Bay Area Branch was out in full force this Saturday on the picket line in solidarity with striking workers at Metro Lighting, Berkeley's now infamously "green" lighting business. PICKETS TO CONTINUE!
The San Francisco Bay Area Branch was out in full force this Saturday on the picket line in solidarity with striking workers at Metro Lighting, Berkeley's now infamously "green" lighting business.
Highlights included songs, chants, lots of honking and the owner, Lawrence Grown, posting a profile of a sociopath in the window. (We assume that he was warning customers of his presence!!!) Many customers chose not to cross the picket line and were directed to other Berkeley lighting businesses, but those that dared to cross the picket line were loudly booed and resorted to leaving shamefully out the back door.
Workers at Metro Lighting are striking over the unfair labor practices of the owners, Lawrence and Christa Grown, who last month fired one of their workers for labor organizing and whistle blowing over unsafe working conditions. They are demanding that all union workers be rehired with back wages and a pay raise for the retail workers who make almost half as much as their co-workers in the assembly shop in the back.
Please come out this Saturday in support of our fellow workers at Metro Lighting from noon to five. The business is located at 2121 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley just south of University. For those who cannot attend, please make sure to call them at 1-888-METRO20 or email them at info [at] metrolighting.com and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere.
In case it is of any interest, we found a link to the profile of a sociopath that Lawrence Grown posted. Here it is. We'll let you decide who the sociopath is. http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html)
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Week day pickets rotate from day to day. There will be ongoing community pickets on Saturdays from 12-5. For more info, email: bayarea [at] iww.org.
Highlights included songs, chants, lots of honking and the owner, Lawrence Grown, posting a profile of a sociopath in the window. (We assume that he was warning customers of his presence!!!) Many customers chose not to cross the picket line and were directed to other Berkeley lighting businesses, but those that dared to cross the picket line were loudly booed and resorted to leaving shamefully out the back door.
Workers at Metro Lighting are striking over the unfair labor practices of the owners, Lawrence and Christa Grown, who last month fired one of their workers for labor organizing and whistle blowing over unsafe working conditions. They are demanding that all union workers be rehired with back wages and a pay raise for the retail workers who make almost half as much as their co-workers in the assembly shop in the back.
Please come out this Saturday in support of our fellow workers at Metro Lighting from noon to five. The business is located at 2121 San Pablo Ave. in Berkeley just south of University. For those who cannot attend, please make sure to call them at 1-888-METRO20 or email them at info [at] metrolighting.com and let them know that you will be taking your business elsewhere.
In case it is of any interest, we found a link to the profile of a sociopath that Lawrence Grown posted. Here it is. We'll let you decide who the sociopath is. http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~mcafee/Bin/sb.html)
---
Week day pickets rotate from day to day. There will be ongoing community pickets on Saturdays from 12-5. For more info, email: bayarea [at] iww.org.
For more information:
http://www.iww.org/en/node/3698
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I have spoken to the owners of this business. The "workers" you talk about have been fired. They have been replaced. Ergo, there is no one to be re-instated. The people who walked off their jobs have been replaced, and therefore have nothing to "demand".
You are harassing a business. Be careful, or a restraining order will be issued.
Just because some doofus claims to be IWW doesn't make it so. The owners and operators of this business have the right to hire whom they please. Don't like it? Then don't work there.
I'm not anti-union, but it's ridiculous to claim you are a union worker when there has been no election and you have no union status.
There's always Starbucks.
You are harassing a business. Be careful, or a restraining order will be issued.
Just because some doofus claims to be IWW doesn't make it so. The owners and operators of this business have the right to hire whom they please. Don't like it? Then don't work there.
I'm not anti-union, but it's ridiculous to claim you are a union worker when there has been no election and you have no union status.
There's always Starbucks.
heh, yeah, perhaps you should get your facts straight, pal. Only one worker was fired.
This was after the owners locked out the workers. You are right that there was no election, because the workers chose not to have one. One person who was promoted to a manager was the only person to not be a member of the union.
You claim to not be anti-union. Yet, you don't ask any of the actual workers what their take on the story is. And instead, take what a delusional owner has to say for fact?
This was after the owners locked out the workers. You are right that there was no election, because the workers chose not to have one. One person who was promoted to a manager was the only person to not be a member of the union.
You claim to not be anti-union. Yet, you don't ask any of the actual workers what their take on the story is. And instead, take what a delusional owner has to say for fact?
I answered the above poster, but the editors deleted it. So I will answer again.
There is no union at Metro. There has never been a union at Metro. Workers cannot become unionized upon declaration to do so. There must a an election. There has been no election, ergo no union.
The owner states that the people picketing are not employed by him, and therefore have no standing to demand anything from him. There are not his employees, they belong to no sanctioned union, and he owed them nothing.
It would be nice if the editors of this site would let readers discuss issues rather than simply deleting comments they don't agree with. I have no problems with unions as long as there has been a proper election to install them and the workers want it. There are many workers, however, who do NOT want unions...IWW in particular. IWW has a long history of being needlessly confrontational while doing nothing for the workers it claims to represent.
There is no union at Metro. There has never been a union at Metro. Workers cannot become unionized upon declaration to do so. There must a an election. There has been no election, ergo no union.
The owner states that the people picketing are not employed by him, and therefore have no standing to demand anything from him. There are not his employees, they belong to no sanctioned union, and he owed them nothing.
It would be nice if the editors of this site would let readers discuss issues rather than simply deleting comments they don't agree with. I have no problems with unions as long as there has been a proper election to install them and the workers want it. There are many workers, however, who do NOT want unions...IWW in particular. IWW has a long history of being needlessly confrontational while doing nothing for the workers it claims to represent.
>>I answered the above poster, but the editors deleted it. So I will answer again.
That is because you are a troll. And it is pretty evident who you actually are.
>>The owner states that the people picketing are not employed by him,
Yes, one person was ILEGALLY fired for union organizing. There are 5 others who are legally ON STRIKE. The owner cannot fire their entire workforce because they began a union organizing drive. The laws are pretty clear on that. The workers have every right according to the law to picket metro lighting.
>>IWW has a long history of being needlessly confrontational while doing nothing for the workers it claims to represent.
this is a strawman argument that is not based upon reality.
That is because you are a troll. And it is pretty evident who you actually are.
>>The owner states that the people picketing are not employed by him,
Yes, one person was ILEGALLY fired for union organizing. There are 5 others who are legally ON STRIKE. The owner cannot fire their entire workforce because they began a union organizing drive. The laws are pretty clear on that. The workers have every right according to the law to picket metro lighting.
>>IWW has a long history of being needlessly confrontational while doing nothing for the workers it claims to represent.
this is a strawman argument that is not based upon reality.
If I were a troll, you'd know it. I post here all the time and I make my points clear. I agree with some things on this site and not with others, as is my, and anyone's, right. Don't like it? Don't read my comments.
One must PROVE one was fired for "union organizing". It's very hard to do. The others walked off their jobs. That's called abadonment, and in California you may be replaced when you walk away from you job.
Again, there is no union at Metro. Workers cannot just declare themselves to be unionized. Please take the time to research CA labor law if you disagree.
IWW has a long history of militant, confrontational tactics. That's the IWW's business. But IWW is not special, and people who want to unionize through IWW or ANY union must have an election if the owner requests it. The owner has not requested a vote becuase the self-declared IWW "members" are no longer in his employ.
One must PROVE one was fired for "union organizing". It's very hard to do. The others walked off their jobs. That's called abadonment, and in California you may be replaced when you walk away from you job.
Again, there is no union at Metro. Workers cannot just declare themselves to be unionized. Please take the time to research CA labor law if you disagree.
IWW has a long history of militant, confrontational tactics. That's the IWW's business. But IWW is not special, and people who want to unionize through IWW or ANY union must have an election if the owner requests it. The owner has not requested a vote becuase the self-declared IWW "members" are no longer in his employ.
An election can help, but only a boss or a bureaucrat/wannabe government official would slap down workers who are fighting for their livelihood or safety or respect. A worker does not need a blessing from the government to demand justice. It may help to use the government sanctioned election approach sometimes, but that is what has gotten the labor movement bogged down into chasing dues and promising not to strike. Plus it can take 6 months and more for claims filed with the NLRB to be investigated or for elections to be granted. The workers at metro lighting have taken responsibility for their own destinies and have decided to fight. Please support them in their struggle and let the boycott spread to any big customer or supplier of theirs.
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