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DULUTH, Minn.—On Sept. 21, the Pickwick
Restaurant here agreed to settle with the union, and re-hire the
workers it had illegally fired for union activity. This huge victory
came on the heels of 12 grueling weeks of daily picketing by Workers
United Local 99—the region’s hospitality workers’ union.
The
labor dispute began earlier this summer when contract negotiations
between Local 99 and Pickwick owner Chris Wisocki
broke down. Despite the fact that the Pickwick has been union for 85
years, it became very clear early on that Wisocki
was determined to end that.
When
Local 99 began informational leafletting and
picketing to alert the public of this, Wisocki
fired two of his workers, Sandy Reinholt and
CJ Cannon, for exercising their right to picket—despite the fact that
it is clearly illegal to fire workers for union activity. These firings
sparked a union-sponsored boycott of the restaurant backed up by daily
pickets, as well as charges being filed against the Pickwick with the
National Labor Relations Board.
The
NLRB, after two months, finally handed down its ruling in early
September. It sided 100% with the union, ruling that the firing of
Sandy and CJ had been illegal, and demanding that they be re-instated
with full back pay.
It
also found that the Pickwick had illegally imposed its own unilateral
contract on its employees and revoked recognition of the union—and that
it was stealing from its employees by collecting union dues from them
for the past three months but failing to turn the dues over to the
union.
The
NLRB declared that it would take the Pickwick to federal court to force
compliance with its ruling. Facing mounting legal costs, and with
business visibly affected by the daily union pickets, the restaurant
caved—agreeing to re-hire Sandy and CJ, and signing a document
declaring their intent to come back to the table and negotiate a new
contract in good faith with Local 99.
This
is a victory not only for Local 99 but for hospitality workers and all
labor throughout the region. And it was a victory that couldn’t have
been won without the dozens of activists from AFSCME, the Building
Trades, the Northland Anti-War Coalition, Socialist Action, and other
organizations that regularly and consistently walked the Local 99
picket lines throughout the labor dispute.
What
happens next remains to be seen. Hopefully,
the Pickwick and Local 99 will be able to successfully negotiate a new
contract. If the Pickwick fails to do so, however, the pickets will go
back up. Union supporters are urged to be prepared to hit the streets
again if need be. We’ve shown that labor solidarity is alive and well
in the Northland, and that it has the power to succeed!
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