John has worked for Linfox/Coles for 37 years as a forklift driver. He has been a loyal employee with a great work record. John is now 65 years old and has been stood down without pay after a company doctor said that John cannot perform every job at the warehouse. John's personal doctor has said he is fit to return to the work. However, after so many year's of strenuous work, it would be crazy to expect John to lift heavy boxes at high speeds. John just wants a little bit of loyalty back after almost four decades of service. Finding a job that meets both the company's needs and John's would be an easy resolution, which Linfox Management should be making a priority. Linfox Management have left John in limbo, with no termination certificate he is unable to claim the pension. Workers at Linfox in Truganina make sure Victorians can access food on the shelves at Coles. It's time they were treated with some respect, not thrown on the scrap heap without concern.

On January 27, 2015, Australian employees of International Flavours & Fragrances (IFF) began occupying our factory in Dandenong. We were forced to take this action because local Australian management has pushed us to the brink. We believe matters cannot be resolved with local Australian management and we ask that IFF's leadership listen to us, the IFF workforce in Dandenong, because our voices are not being heard in Australia. All we want is to be heard and genuinely negotiate a workplace agreement, which benefits the interests of both the workers and the interests of the company. We, the workers, have a clear interest in IFF . In the past, and specifically during the negotiations of our last agreement, we were promised there would be a cultural change from management. But things have only gotten worse. Local management couldn't care less about us. There is no acknowledgement of the humanity involved in the process of running a business. We were also promised that, due to a break down with local management, we would have quarterly meetings with the Asia Pacific management team. However, we have had only one of these meetings over the last three years. We believe it is not difficult to treat people with respect. Unfortunately a culture of respect is not encouraged or practiced by management in Australia. Mr Koudijs, we call on you to intervene because we believe Australian management cannot or will not negotiate fairly or respectfully. So far, local management have continued to be provocative and combative, which is not conducive to an agreement being reached. There has been much talk of productivity from local management, and workers have gone to great lengths already, including moving to 24-hour production. Now it is also time to recognise that workers want security, not uncertainty and anxiety. This, not stealing workers' 10 minute breaks, will see an increase in productivity and the health and well being of the workforce. Mr Koudijs, to end this lockout and help deliver a swift and fair agreement, will you meet with workers?

On January 26th, I was terminated by Kelly Cooper, the manager for Walmart store #1772 in Klamath Falls, Oregon, in what I believe was retaliation for my efforts to speak out for a better workplace. I worked at Walmart for 11 years and didn’t have problems until I started getting involved along with other employees across the country in campaigns for better wages, better benefits and other improvements at Walmart. Since then, I have participated in some rallies and events and I joined a nationwide strike at the end of last year. The management at my store knew I’ve been a part of these efforts and have discouraged my coworkers from getting involved. Recently, things got worse. First, I was given a coaching because a manager said I left eggs out of refrigeration for two hours. Later, she changed her story and said it was for 40 minutes. I kept working after the incident, but on January 15, 2015 I was coached by an assistant manager at my store about half an hour before I was scheduled to clock out on my overnight shift because he said I wasn’t doing all of my work. The problem is that those of us who work overnight shifts are given more work and are responsible for more sections of the store than any one person could reasonably be expected to handle. I told him that I was scheduled to work another half hour to 7AM and he walked away. All of a sudden, he had called the police and had them escort me outside the story. He told me I would be arrested if I came back. Without knowing anything about what this meant for my employment, I was told five hours later that I would be suspended without pay until the store manager came back from vacation. When my manager returned several days later, she said she would open an investigation. Just a few days later, she called me in and told me I would be terminated over the egg incident many weeks before -- for which I had already been coached. This doesn’t make sense. To me, it’s clear that the real reason why I was terminated is because of my involvement with OUR Walmart. I’ve heard of other workers being retaliated against for speaking out about how Walmart treats us and I want this to stop. Please join me in asking Walmart to give me my job back and to stop retaliating against employees who speak out about their jobs. In addition to signing on to this petition, you can call Walmart Store #1772 in Klamath Falls, Oregon at 541-885-6890 and tell store manager Kelly Cooper to put me back to work and to do the right thing and be fair to us workers. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: UFCW and OUR Walmart have the purpose of helping Wal-Mart employees as individuals or groups in their dealings with Wal-Mart over labor rights and standards and their efforts to have Wal-Mart publically commit to adhering to labor rights and standards. UFCW and OUR Walmart have no intent to have Walmart recognize or bargain with UFCW or OUR Walmart as the representative of Walmart employees.

My name is Courtnee Dean. For the past 10 years, I have been a loyal employee of Olive Garden store 1370 in Bala Cynwyd, PA. I am also a mother, currently seven months pregnant with my second child. On October 1st, 2014, I was unfairly terminated from my employment at Darden Restaurants for a lost coupon. I offered to compensate for the coupon, but the manager, Lily, refused the money. Instead of following the customary procedure of writing me up or taking the money, she called corporate and had me terminated. Even after working at Darden for 10 years, not only was I treated as disposable but so was my growing family. That’s why I am demanding that Darden Restaurants make this right by: 1) restoring my employment, 2) fully compensate me for all the time I have missed from work as a result of this unjust termination, and 3) meet with me and members of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United to address my case and the issues that workers face from Darden management all over the country, like being discriminated against for being pregnant and being forced to work while sick. Please join me in asking Darden Restaurants, the largest full-service restaurant company in the world, to do the right thing so that I can support my family and prevent similar situations from happening to the rest of Darden’s employees.

The timing of Kip’s termination on December 2nd is no accident. It came in the midst of a national week of action for “$15 and a Union,” and just as three different union drives at Delta, and their subcontractor AirServ, kick into high gear. Over 200 rallied on December 5th at MSP Airport, blocking traffic, to demand $15 and a Union and that Delta re-hire Kip. Delta thinks firing Kip, a leading 15 Now and union activist, will silence other airport workers from standing up for their rights. They couldn’t be more wrong. With your support, and the mobilization of the wider labor movement, Delta’s blatantly illegal and unjust actions will only deepen workers’ resolve to fight for $15/hour and union rights. We call on Delta and the Metropolitan Airport Commission, which governs operations at MSP Airport, to immediately reinstate Kip Hedges and to make clear that these intimidation tactics will not continue. We stand in solidarity with Kip and with all workers fighting for $15 and a union!

Having our members show their support for the employees of Capital Bikeshare is key; our main leverage is member relations - namely, you all. Having members sign the petition and show that they endorse the right of CaBi workers to unionize is huge. Please, tell Alta/REQX to voluntarily recognize the union we have formed with TWU Local 100 and to drop the motion to clarify, that is, allow everyone who wants to be in the Union a seat at the table. Thank you everyone to has signed the petition. However, it appears our work has just begun. At the NLRB hearing Jackson-Lewis successfully pushed our petition to unionize out. We are starting back from ground zero. We still need your support - letting them know that we, the public, those who use the bikes stand for workers rights will go a long way in our struggle. Thank You.

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.