[act-ma] 2NITE! 9:00 pm, STOP INSOMNIA'S UNION-BUSTING! PICKET, FONE & EMAIL ZAP

[Geoff Carens]

Dear Everyone,

On 10/24/13, Insomnia Cookies employee Tommy Mendes told his boss he was an
IWW member. The next day he was suspended without pay, then fired in
retaliation for union activity! Join the Boston IWW and allies tonight as
we picket, starting at 9:00 pm, at Insomnia's Boston location, 708
Commonwealth Ave (BU East stop on the MBTA's Green Line B train). The
Facebook event is here <https://www.facebook.com/events/355942384551025/>. Feel
free to email Tommy's boss Ryan right now, at ryand at insomniacookies.com and
let him know Tommy should be reinstated with back pay! Call Insomnia CEO
Seth Berkowitz anytime at (877) 632-6654 and let him know how you feel
about Tommy's retaliatory termination (the IWW has filed an Unfair Labor
Practice charge over the firing with the National Labor Relations Board).

*Background:* Tommy joined the IWW with other employees in August, after
night shift workers declared a spontaneous
strike<http://www.iww.org/content/striking-workers-insomnia-cookies-join-iww>.
They were making deliveries on their own bikes until 3 am, without
legally-required breaks, pressed to ride at unsafe speeds, and making
$6/hr. At least seven
pickets<http://iwwboston.org/2013/10/11/cops-fail-to-stop-successful-october-10-picket-of-insomnia-cookies/>have
been held at local  Insomnia stores since August, but drivers and
bakers still report they are often denied breaks, denied workers' comp &
blamed by bosses for any accidents, and are still paid poverty wages.
Workers are expected to leave the store unescorted late at night with
thousands of dollars in cash to deposit. They even have to use their own
money to make change for deliveries.

Management's excuse for firing Tommy after he went public with his union
affiliation is that his cash count was supposedly short, but other workers
report their counts have been short too (likely due to technical problems),
without their facing disciplinary action. Tommy's supervisor even
acknowledged that a video camera trained on his register recorded no
evidence of any wrongdoing. Tommy has already sustained hundreds of dollars
in lost wages; you can support him and other Insomnia activists by
contributing to the Insomnia Cookies Workers' Strike
Fund<https://www.wepay.com/donations/1952435343>.
Please take whatever action you can (picket, email, phone call, donation)
to support Tommy Mendes and all the low-paid Insomnia Cookies employees!
Feel free to forward this message as widely as possible.

In Solidarity,

Geoff for the Industrial Workers of the World / IWW