Pioneer Press, October 25, 2010, Monday

Pioneer Press

October 25, 2010, Monday

Pioneer Press

Jimmy John's union touts close vote

Sub shop owners say they'll look for improvements
By Julie Forster

The union that fell just short in its effort to win the right to represent workers at 10 Twin Cities Jimmy John's sub shops is preparing to file an appeal with labor relations regulators and touting last week's "near tie" as progress.

Calling themselves the Jimmy John's Workers Union, organizers say the fact that they secured 85 votes in favor of a union, with 87 against, shows the balance is shifting in the fast-food industry.

"We have a mandate to fight for change at Jimmy John's," said Erik Forman, a union organizer and delivery driver at one of the St. Louis Park shops.

The union, an affiliate of the Industrial Workers of the World, claims management tried to intimidate and illegally influence the outcome of the election, charges the franchise owner denies.

Mike Mulligan, whose family owns the 10 west-metro Jimmy John's where the union election was held Friday, says the union organizing ordeal has "wounded" his company.

Unions have made little headway in the fast-food industry due in part to high turnover and a high percentage of younger workers who don't necessarily consider their jobs long-term. Plus there are few success stories in the industry that show the benefits of a union.

"It's hard for workers to look around and say, 'We will be just like them and have the same kinds of gains,' " said Kate Bronfenbrenner, a professor of labor relations at Cornell University in New York.

The Industrial Workers of the World, a radical anti-establishment union that peaked in the early 20th century, is focusing on the industry in a comeback bid. Mulligan says his franchise was simply the latest target.

Whether last week's defeat weakens support or energizes it could depend on how each side responds.

"You would hope that the franchise owners would use this as an opportunity to think carefully about how their restaurants are run and see if there are opportunities for addressing some of the issues that have come up," said John Budd, a professor of industrial relations for the Carlson School of Management. "Clearly, with 50 percent voting in favor, the concerns weren't just those of a few troublemakers."

"We have never denied that there weren't ways to improve our operations," said Mulligan, 66, a former Supervalu executive who's been a Jimmy John's franchisee for more than nine years. "We will sit down and take stock of what we have learned and see what it tells us about what we can do better."

Although the union effort came up short, the narrow margin could have a "great impact," Bronfenbrenner said. "People should never assume that there is no group that can't be organized. Workers will prove you wrong."

Ten years ago, for example, the thinking was that home health care workers can't be organized because they tend to work in isolation. "Now, they're organizing by the hundreds of thousands," she said.

Davis Ritsema, a delivery driver and meat slicer at a Jimmy John's in Uptown Minneapolis, said he's confident working conditions are going to improve even without a union contract. Ritsema makes $7.25 per hour with tips as a delivery driver and $8.75 per hour as a meat cutter.

The close margin "scares them a little bit, and we want to make sure that people are still pushing to see improvements at work."

Julie Forster can be reached at 651-228-5189.