[FlyingBrickAnnouncements] Fwd: URGENT! Solidarity Phone Blast! Demand Dignity & Respect!

Mon Feb 21 22:25:49 UTC 2011

I say it should be posted to both the blog and a more public forum. This is
bullshit! I'm not even in IWW and it makes me angry.

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 4:41 PM, Nathan Stickel
<incoherentnickle at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hey Flying Brickers! You are currently receiving messages in a Non-Digest
> Form. If you'd like to receive messages compacted into one e-mail a day,
> just visit your listserv homepage and change your settings to the Digest
> Version. Questions? Just ask!
>
>
> Hey y'all, sorry for the spam, I try not to make a habit of this, but this
> has been sent to me in urgency by the Richmond IWW. Since several of their
> members volunteer here, including myself, and Ellwood Thompson's is a well
> known, and frequented store by some folks who do a lot of work with the
> Brick, I thought this was important to send out. What do y'all think of
> posting it to our blog or some other more public forum?
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Kenneth Yates <causticcastle at gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 8:56 AM
> Subject: URGENT! Solidarity Phone Blast! Demand Dignity & Respect!
> To: IWW List <iww-list at lists.iww.org>, IWW GHQ <ghq at iww.org>,
> rtru at googlegroups.com, rephrame at googlegroups.com,
> richmond-food-not-bombs at googlegroups.com,
> allthesaintstheatercompany at gmail.com, maydayrva at googlegroups.com
>
>
> Demand Dignity & Respect!
>
> Demand A Competitive Living Wage and Substantial & Consistent Pay Raises
> For Workers at Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market!<http://ellwoodthompsons.com/>
>
>
> One of our fellow worker’s, Kenneth Yates was wrongfully terminated from
> Richmond, Virginia's Ellwood Thompson's Local Market<http://ellwoodthompsons.com/our-promise>after 5 ½ years of committed service on Tuesday February 15th.
>
> “When you go to work you ordinarily leave your constitutional rights as a
> citizen in the glove compartment of your car...” -Staughton Lynd & Daniel
> Gross
>
> Kenneth was well aware of this and as a committed member of the community
> in which he lives and works, did not allow that to come between him and the
> injustices he found in the workplace.
>
> In December, after being courted by management to become a part of their
> team, then respectfully refusing the offer, he was threatened with a
> statement that he should reconsider and either “move up, or move out”.
>
> Fast-forward to January 30th & 31st, 2011.  Kenneth, in a concerted effort
> with his fellow workers, challenged a new and unwarranted decision by
> management to force workers in their department who regularly work early
> morning shifts to close one shift a week and take a mandatory following day
> off, and for those who close to do the same. The schedules were not changed.
> However, we feel that after refusing to submit to the schedule changes that
> would bring undue stress on our minds and bodies, Kenneth was singled out as
> a problem, a wrench in the machine, the organizer.
>
> Present Day: After volunteering on his day off, going above and beyond the
> specifications of his job, to clean the refuse wells of the dairy cooler,
> his employment was terminated for what management defined as 'gross
> negligence'.  A fan had become dislodged in a section of the cooler Kenneth
> was not able to reach in his cleaning due to time constraints. Management
> accused him of not plugging the fan back in, which resulted in the shrink of
> several hundred dollars of product. Management refusing to hear his side of
> the story, dismissed his claims that he did not unplug any of the fans and
> that the cooler showed no signs of problems when he left. They added that he
> 'neglected' to inform anyone that the job wasn't finished, further refusing
> to accept that there wasn't any apparent reason for Kenneth to alert anyone,
> however he immediately on his next scheduled work day, upon arrival told his
> department manager that he was unable to finish the job, but planned to
> finish at a later time that week.
>
> After 5 ½ years of excellent customer service and product knowledge, and
> the willingness to take on extra responsibilities, and do what ever it took
> to get the job done, what management calls 'gross negligence', in actuality
> seems to be more of an unfortunate accident.
>
> We feel that Kenneth is a victim of discrimination based on the belief that
> Ellwood Thompson’s, as a business who states in their mission statement that
> they want to help “...strengthen our community, once [sic] choice at a
> time...” has made many terrible choices in the form of poor labor practices
> that have weakened our community.
>
> We demand that Rick Hood & Ellwood Thompson’s fulfill their commitment to a
> sustainable community by providing a place of employment where workers can
> retain their dignity and feel their labor is valued and respected. We
> demand  that Ellwood Thompson's, as a first step towards that goal, provide
> a Competitive Living Wage & Substantial & Consistent Pay Raises.
>
>
> We're requesting that you call management at the store, (804)359-7525and/or fax: (804)359-8529 as well as the owner Rick Hood who can be reached
> at his other company Hood Properties at (804)355-9161 and demand a
> respectable and dignified workplace at Ellwood Thompsons' for all current
> and future workers.  Ellwood Thompson’s hours are 7am - 9:00pm EST, seven
> days a week.
>
> Email any and all the management at the following addresses as well!
>
>
> Just *Ctrl-C* then *Ctrl-V!*
>
> TTaylor at ellwoodthompsons.com; tlangford at ellwoodthompsons.com;
> RickHood at ellwoodthompsons.com; jstaten at ellwoodthompsons.com;
> GCarson at ellwoodthompsons.com; sbutler at ellwoodthompsons.com
>
>
> Please feel free to use the sample message below:
>
> Hello my name is _____________ and I demand that Rick Hood & Ellwood
> Thompson’s fulfill their commitment to a sustainable community by
> providing a place of employment where workers can retain their dignity and
> feel their labor is valued and respected. We demand that Ellwood Thompson's
> provide a Competitive Living Wage & Substantial & Consistent Pay Raises.
>
>
>  *An Injury to One, Is An Injury To All!*
>
> --
>
>
> *Richmond Industrial Workers of the World* • P.O. Box 7055 • Richmond,
> Virginia 23221-0055
> (e) richmondiww at gmail.com • (w) www.richmondiww.org • (p) 804-496-1568
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Always with Solidarity
>
> Nathan
>
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> Flyingbrickvolunteers at lists.aktivix.org
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>
>

-- 
Megan Osborn
**
*"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands
explained." -Mark Twain
*
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