Nissan is the most productive automaker in North America. However, that productivity comes at a price. Only a fraction of Nissan's employees are directly hired and few earn the top pay rate. Most work for agencies like Yates, Onin or Calsonic - have few paid days off, and must deal with ever increasing line speeds. Nissan workers want to be directly hired, earn the top pay rate after a reasonable amount of time, and work at reasonable line speeds.

In the words of a former Bluestone worker, "we live from pay to pay, we depend on our wages to be in our account so that we are able to pay our bills and rent". Bluestone's collapse has left some workers missing out on rent and mortgage payments leaving them feeling "sick" and "anxious". When you put in a day's work you should get a fair day's pay.

Tuan is 31. He is a big Brisbane Broncos fan. He has worked at Alphapharm since 2007. Recently, not long after being married, Tuan was diagnosed with cancer. A month after he finished his treatment, his baby girl arrived. Tuan has so many good things to look forward to, but after 7 years of hard work at Alphapharm management would not support him in the process of getting back to full health. Any one of us could suffer a debilitating illness. Adding unnecessary financial burdens at a time like that is simply callous. Where will Don get future employment to support his young family if his employer of 7 years is not willing to assist him?

In 2013, when I was 63 years old, Centennial Coal made me redundant. When people are made redundant, they rely on their entitlements to feed their families, stay in their homes, and pay for necessities. But Centennial Coal has refused to pay retrenched people like me -- anyone close to age 60 and over -- the full entitlements we’re owed. Centennial -- which started as a local company, but is now owed by a giant multinational company called Banpu -- is the only company in the Australian coal industry that does not pay proper entitlements to workers of my age. At the same time, Centennial Coal reported that its Australian operations brought in over $213 million (USD) profit in 2013. It is just not fair. To be honest, I feel like I was targeted for my age. I worked at the Myuna mine for over 31 years. I am fit and healthy and I wanted to keep working, but now that I’m unemployed and without my entitlements, I'm facing trouble in my old age. But this isn’t just about me and the other miners losing our jobs. Our families and communities are deeply impacted too. I have two children -- one of whom lives across the country with my two grandchildren. Centennial’s decision to deny us entitlements means that I’m not able to visit them as often and see them grow up. Work doesn’t stop at 60 and neither should the entitlements we’re owed. Please join me in calling on Centennial Coal to do the right thing and pay older workers the retrenchment entitlements we are owed.

My name is Olivia Guzman. For 17 years, my husband Fausto and I have been coming to the U.S. each season from our hometown in Mexico as H-2B guestworkers. We worked with thousands of other guestworkers who process and pack seafood for big retailers like Walmart and Whole Foods. The guestworker visa requires us to work for only one employer. The name of our boss is inscribed in our passport, and if we are fired or leave to seek work somewhere else we can be detained and deported by ICE. Our employers paid us a piece rate—by the weight of seafood we cleaned—that often came out to be less than the minimum wage no matter how fast we worked. They housed us in decrepit labor camps on company property where snakes crawled up through cracks in the floor. Bosses and managers surveilled us in the camps, humiliated us, and even physically abused us. To keep us silent, they constantly threatened us with firing, deportation, and blacklisting so we could no longer find work as guestworkers. There comes a time you can’t take the abuse any more, and in spite of the threats, you have to speak up. I did that when I became of member of the National Guestworker Alliance (NGA). I traveled across the Gulf Coast and organized my fellow guestworkers into committees to try to change conditions in the industry. I traveled to Washington, DC, and Mexico City to tell political leaders about the abuse. But when I hosted NGA meetings in my house, the recruiter spied on us. She said we were all trouble makers and threatened to have us blocked from coming back to the United States. And I learned that the threats were real, because this year, my employer blacklisted me in retaliation for my organizing. I was removed from the employment list, accused of being a trouble maker, and blocked from coming back on an H-2B visa to my employer. Walmart says it wants to stop forced labor on its supply chain, but continues to buy from suppliers who abuse guestworkers every day. Whole Foods tells customers all about where its fish were caught, but not that the fish were packed by workers who were trapped in severe labor abuse. Walmart and Whole Foods set the standards that thousands of suppliers follow. My fellow NGA members and I are calling on them to sign the NGA’s Forced Labor Prevention Accord. The Accord is a binding agreement that would ban retaliation and blacklisting, ensure basic labor standards, and create a binding dispute resolution process that includes employers and workers. We are urging retailers to sign the Accord to ensure that their suppliers don’t trap guestworkers in exploitation and forced labor.

Last fall, rumors of privatizing (also called sub-contracting) the MVU cafeteria to The Abbey Group circulated. The MVU cafeteria staff and many other staff are concerned that the school-run program may simply be “eliminated” to save a few dollars. This is not fair. The food service employees are long-term, loyal and committed employees. They have a collective 66 years of service to the school, performed high quality work, and often go above and beyond what they are expected to do, especially for students. All the staff at MVU bring the same level of commitment to the school and the students. The MVU cafeteria workers are being proactive and are asking the MVU Board for something very simple – to adopt a policy that it will not privatize the food service jobs at MVU or any of the work currently being performed by its staff. This is perfectly legal. It doesn’t violate the existing union contract. It doesn’t violate the Municipal Employees Labor Relations Act. It is well within the rights of the Board to pass such a policy. The policy wording we propose would be as follows: “It will be the policy of the Missisquoi Valley Union School Board of Directors to not sub-contract any work currently being performed by employees of the Board.” Contractors, like the Abbey Group, are in business to make money/profit. If they’re going to make money from the school, they will have to cut corners somewhere. Either they will cut services, or the wages they pay to workers, or both. If they cut services, the quality of school food program, in this case, goes down. And if they cut wages, they will get people in to work who are not very qualified, or who will leave as soon as they get a better job. Contractors like Abbey Group often offer no paid sick days or benefits, making the jobs even less livable for working people, causing more turn over in staff. High turnover hurts quality of the food program and it hurts the relationships staff have with the students. Low standards for the food program and its employees are not consistent with the MVU’s values. We encourage you to add your name to encourage the board to adopt this policy. Thank you.

We want the college to maintain dedicated employees and community members. Outsourcing our custodians threatens the quality of the work and the safety of our campus community.

Apple Valley, MN OUR Walmart member, Gabe Teneyuque was instrumental in getting the state's minimum wage passed. Gabe spoke at the State Capitol, collected and delivered petitions and marched to end poverty wages in Minnesota. His courage to speak out and improve lives of Minnesotans across the state should be encouraged. Instead, Walmart fired Gabe for stubbing his toe at work and reporting the injury. Walmart managers claim that Gabe violated Walmart policy by not reporting the injury that same day even thought it didn't start hurting Gabe til days later. No one should be afraid to report a work related injury. Walmart do the right thing and give Gabe his job back. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: OUR Walmart's purpose is to help Walmart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Walmart over labor rights and standards and their efforts to have Walmart publicly commit to adhering to labor rights and standards. OUR Walmart has no intent to have Walmart recognize or bargain with it as the representative of Walmart employees.

The LA Times recently reported that roughly 30 Wells Fargo branch employees in the L.A. area tried to meet sales goals by opening accounts that were never used. Lying and cheating should never be tolerated in the workplace -- especially at a financial institution. But the situation also suggests that Wells Fargo take stock of its community banking program and the sales goals employees are pressured to meet each week. According to the Times, the pressure to meet sales goals can be intense. Managers have required sales agents to stay late and call their friends and family members to open accounts in order to meet sales objectives. Sales at all costs is no way to build trust with our communities. Everyone has unique banking needs, and Wells Fargo employees pride themselves on being able to deliver quality products to individuals and community businesses. But when aggressive sales goals compete with customers' needs, one side always wins. We're calling on Wells Fargo to immediately review its community banking program and lower excessive sales targets for team members. Photo credit: http://bit.ly/16vf2lK

Stand with us -- Brandon Garrett & Tavarus Yates -- and other Walmart workers from Baker, LA who've been illegally fired for speaking out. For years Walmart has been taking advantage of us, their workers. Inconsistent scheduling and pay that gives us 30 hours one week and 12 the next leaves us no way to support our family, pay rent, buy food or even gas to make it to work the next day. Even worse, when we speak out about these problems, Walmart tries to bully and silence us. So earlier this year, we went on an unfair labor practice strike. Under federal law it was our right to do so. Now, Walmart is firing and disciplining those of us who stood up. We have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board but Walmart needs to hear from its customers that this behavior is not ok. WE need everyone in the Baton Rouge community to speak with one voice on the rights of Walmart workers to engage in federally-protected strikes. We don’t want to hurt Walmart, we just want them to be better! By signing this petition you are supporting us to make sure that Walmart associates who were disciplined or fired are returned to work and their records cleared.

The Tabard Inn was established in 1922 in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. Neighbors and employees have played a major role in the survival and success of the Tabard Inn. Today, it's seen by many as a DC institution. Its infancy survived the Great Depression. During WWII, the Tabard served as a boardinghouse for Navy Women Accepted Volunteer Service (WAVES). In the 1970's, neighbors lobbied the zoning board and purchased minority shares to save the Tabard from demolition. And in 1975 Edward and Fritzi Cohen purchased the Tabard Inn, and it's been a beloved family-run business ever since. In 1993, the Tabard's owners (Edward and Fritzi Cohen) recognized the employee role in Tabard's success and created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that granted employees 30% ownership. At that time (and as recently as spring 2013), they stated a desire for employees to eventually have 100% ownership of the Tabard. Unfortunately, a significant change in philosophy is threatening the Tabard's legacy, character, and very existence. In one month, the Tabard Inn lost eight hardworking career employees from its leadership team. * General Manager (20 years at the Tabard) * Hotel Manager (7.5 years at the Tabard) * Accounts Payable Clerk & Floor Manager (20 years at the Tabard) * Design & Project Manager (32 years at the Tabard) * Restaurant Manager (5.5 years at the Tabard) * Special Events Manager & Wedding Director (10.5 years at the Tabard) * Housekeeping Manager (13.5 years at the Tabard) * Special Events Coordinator (3 years at the Tabard) More than 110 years worth of institutional knowledge, experience, and vendor and patron relationships have been drained from the Tabard in just one month. This loss has left a significant void in Tabard's employee leadership. We, the employees, are proud to work at the Tabard Inn. However, we are deeply concerned with the decisions being made during this internal restructuring. Many of us go to work at Tabard every day in fear of losing our jobs. The new manager described firing as, "a favorite part of my job." We have expressed our concern, but received no reassurance. We have proposed a solution, which would increase employee ownership and allow the employees who treasure the Tabard to serve as its protectors, but for over one month we have not received a response. There has been no communication. Meanwhile, policy changes and terminations put the Tabard in an increasingly vulnerable position. Despite being shareholders in the company, the employees no longer have a voice. This is a dramatic change for a business known for valuing its employees. Employees believe the Tabard belongs in the hands of those who know it and love it. As employees who love the Tabard, it is with great consternation that we share this story. We seek to increase employee ownership to a majority in order to preserve the Tabard's character and reinstate the values as described by Tabard's mission statement: "The Tabard Inn provides attentive service in a relaxed environment where guests can feel comfortable in casual or formal attire. We strive to make every guest either a repeat customer or someone who will still recommend us heartily as a restaurant with great food, excellent service, and a romantic and charming atmosphere. We want to be everyone's favorite place to go in Washington, DC. We achieve this objective by working as a team whose primary interest is our customers' satisfaction. Rather than be interested solely in how much money we can make today or tonight, our team members actively determine whether their actions will help everyone profit in the long run. We take actions which nourish and clean the environment, and we support local businesses and charitable causes. Tabard Inn employees are career employees who strive for continuous improvement. We're proud and protective of our diversity, and we treat employees and guests with respect. We demand excellence from our employees and vendors, and we have fun at what we do." Already signed by the following current, recent, and former Tabard Inn employees: Erin Claxton Carolyn E. DeWitt Stephanie Granger Veronica Hunter Holly Learmouth Shannon MacDonald Irene Mayer Paul Michel Travis Miller Camille Smiley Janelle Treibitz Jared Wilyato We truly appreciate all your support! Thank you for joining our effort to preserve the Tabard. Sincerely, The Tabard Inn Employee Committee

My name is Duane, and I’m a proud father of my beautiful five-year-old daughter. I worked at Juicy Couture’s flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City for almost four years in the stock department. I started this petition with my coworker Darrell, because while we stock & sell Juicy Couture’s $200 jeans and sweaters, the company decided they don’t want to take care of their workers. Darrell was a successful full-time sales associate for two and half years, until the company started pushing full-time workers out. When I started, I also got 40 hours a week, but I struggled along with my coworkers as our hours were cut. Eventually, I was down to 14 hours each week. When I asked for more hours, they said they couldn’t give them to me because I didn’t have open availability – because of my daughter. When we began working at Juicy Couture, many of us were full-time. Now, only 19 of the store’s 128 employees are full-time! Not only are they firing full-time workers and replacing us with a part-time workforce, just this month Juicy capped all part-time workers hours at 21 hours per week. We quickly realized that Juicy Couture is doing everything they can to not take care of its workers. See, it was hard enough for us to make ends meet in New York City as full-time retail workers. But by keeping hours under 30 per week, Juicy Couture will no longer be required to offer their workers affordable health care – part of the Affordable Health Care Act’s plan to make sure more working Americans have basic health care. Further, we were told we’re only eligible for paid time off in case we’re sick or have other responsibilities if we work 1400 hours in one year. We did the math, and realized part-time workers reach that at 21 hours per week. This means that the vast majority of Juicy Couture’s workers will not ever get one single paid sick day. Darrell and I are just two of the full-time employees that have been forced out of Juicy Couture by having our hours cut or being fired. Now we’re speaking out on behalf of my coworkers who remain at the store, because we all deserve Just Hours. We know from experience that Juicy has loyal customers and dedicated employees -- if enough of us speak out and demand Just Hours, they'll have no choice but to act.