We, as progressives, believe in workers rights. Yet all too often, non profit organizations, political campaigns, for profit companies, and political organizations post jobs that either are unpaid internships or that pay workers as independent contractors instead of employees -- which means the worker is responsible for 100% of the taxes on their compensation and 100% responsible for benefits they would have otherwise received as an employee. Research from Pay Our Interns show that unpaid internships effectively block the point of entry for college students who cannot afford to work for free to gain experience and that people of color and low-income families are significantly underrepresented. And, once the Democratic National Committee started paying their interns, the share of people of color in the program leapt from 18% to 42%. And from my personal experience, I can tell you that in my twenties, I was paid for a number of years as an independent contractor instead of an employee. When I was hired for these positions, I figured I would hired as I had been previously - as an employee. And wow was I shocked when tax day came and I owed 30% of my earnings plus penalties for not filing quarterly estimated taxes. I didn't know taxes were not being withheld -- and I actually had to set up an installment agreement with the IRS. And of course, I didn't have health insurance during those years or any type of benefits. These practices are unfair to workers across the United States. We can't stop employers from being greedy (oh how we've tried!) -- but we can get these progressive job boards to stop posting unpaid internships and to only post jobs which are paid as employees (W2, not 1099), which will cut of the pipeline of applicants to employers who aren't willing to pay their fair share. By cutting off their supply of applicants, I believe we can force non profit organizations and for profit companies to do the right thing, pay their interns a living wage, and to pay their fair share of taxes and benefits.

GE Aviation in Victorville CA is singling out military veterans both disabled and not in an effort to unjustifiedly terminate their employment. Half our co-workers are veterans hired from previous management. After the new management has taken over they started being highly discriminatory towards there disabled veteran and veteran staff. Previous to this point these veterans we're also highly awarded and decorated under previous management. However; under the new management whenever someone is written up for anything it's always a veteran. I personally was recently terminate for reasons that were trivial and all the veterans there have experienced this herassment and are willing to attest to similar mistreatment. Several of us have documentation showing over a year of herassment with dates and times. Showing the difference in how the managers treat nonveterans vs veterans. It's severely different treatment. Most of the department is willing to speak out about it. Many others are in line to loose their jobs just for being military veterans.   Reference number 480-2018-04697

During my time at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) the culture was extremely tolerant of a sexual environment and acceptable harassment. Many employees across the company in all different departments have expressed similar situations and environments. Several employees including supervisors attempted to report incidents to the Station Manager and human resource department. After reporting incidents, employees were fired, harassed and/or retaliated against. When this action by Delta was acceptable, other employees have felt powerless to speak up for themselves and address the situation. HR does not do enough to protect employees from workplace harm. One employee cannot fight against these big bullies alone. Employees cannot be afraid to speak up. I personally have lost my career and my life stopped once I was subjected to sexual assault at work. This should not have to happen to one more person! Delta must be held accountable for its harassment problem and create a safe, respectful work environment. (these are views and opinions of the author based on personal experience)

Currently I no longer work at Domino's based on not being able to work certain hours because of my schooling. I want to be able to bring notice to other student workers that need that leniency to be allowed to make their own scheduling. I want to give others the opportunity to have their own voice and fight their own battles for an easier way of work no matter where you are in the world or where you work. If you have any questions or wanna share your story my facebook link is attached.

Most female workers I work with all are younger and mainly got a job to be able to get their nails done, but cannot due to the managers. Technically by the handbook nails are allowed to be done as long at the are 1/4 inches long. So if workers can choose to wear gloves, why can they not get their nails done?

From a customer service point of view the passengers aboard an RB1 service really require a visible point of contact, in the form of a DCSA. The mate is required to spend a significant amount of time in the wheelhouse & can not be available to passengers at all times. From a operational point of view, having a DCSA means the ability to double load/unload, which will greatly improve timekeeping on service. From a safety point of view the additional crew member provides extra vigilance, and an enganced ability to perform well during emergency situations.

Most stores have scan guns, even little gas stations do.It will save the customer's backs as well as the cashiers and baggers.A lot of the time, customers will hold up their item waiting for us to zap it.

As the cost of living continues to rise, one in four St. Paul workers currently makes less than $15/hr. The food-service industry is one of the top three employers of low wage workers in the metro area and many of them are tipped workers. We are the people that serve your food, mix your drinks, make your coffee, and clear your tables; we are the backbone of the restaurant industry and we deserve a living wage. Right now, the restaurant industry employs six out of ten of the lowest wage jobs in our state, meanwhile the restaurant and food-service industry continues to grow. We want to keep our industry strong and support the workers that make St. Paul a desirable place to work and dine. We deserve the full minimum wage and our tips! Fair wages not only prevent poverty and wage theft, they also help to protect workers from sexual harassment and discrimination: when workers are more dependent on tips, we're more vulnerable to the biases and, at times, predatory behaviors of customers. On a daily basis, workers in our industry are forced to weigh our dignity against our take-home pay as we face indecent behavior from customers and coworkers. A tip penalty makes this dynamic worse by forcing workers to depend more on tips and less on guaranteed wages for our income. The Minnesota Restaurant Association claims that raising the minimum wage would hurt our industry. That's not true! The restaurant industry is the fastest growing industry in the country and has grown amidst raises to the state-wide minimum wage. They say that workers would lose tips, but tipping is norm in the highest-wage food-service industries in the country. They want to take workers tips to subsidize the cost of running their businesses. We say no! We know that tipped workers, that ALL workers, need a $15 Minimum wage with #1FairWage. Tell the City Council: No carve-outs, No tip-penalty!

This is important because employees are not clear on what they're signing and are also not expecting to be harassed or discriminated against. Employees are completely unaware that they are signing away their rights to justice if ever they have negative experiences. Companies aren't creating an environment that will hold perpetrators for sexual harassment accountable for their actions, which makes them bold and fearless in their pursuits. I was an employee for 5 months at Longhorn Steakhouse. There were multiple of my coworkers that touched me inappropriately and spoke to me inappropriately. I was disgusted. But I was also not in a position to lose my job. There were times that I would be really aggravated with their continuous actions and speak up and I would be sent home early. Eventually my hours became shorter and shorter, to the point that I would be scheduled for only one or two days a week. If I would've known that when I signed those papers during orientation that I would not be able to get an attorney to represent me in court, and it exempts them from all legal responsibilities in such a case, I would have never signed. And I think anyone applying for a position at this company needs to know what they're signing.

I am a former employee of Papa John's Pizza. I was encouraged, then agreed to be promoted, as AGM last year. I realized through our personal payroll program that I was not getting paid my promised wage. This was brought to my manager’s attention, as well the Area Supervisor’s, eliciting the same response that they will “take care of it.” A few weeks of patiently waiting for a correction and following the chain of command, there was none and I eventually had to call the payroll department myself for retroactive pay. Earlier this year leading up to this from an extremely poor, hostile work environment not only from coworkers, but managers, I was sexually assaulted by my superior while working as an AGM. After being refused from my store manager to Human Resources, I was never offered any paperwork or advice to file my claim for this incident. Following the proper procedure(s) of bringing this to my superior's attention multiple times, I was fired in retaliation and informally transferred to another store location. As a young female, this is a completely different generation that we are bringing into the workforce, speaking up about these issues. For the millions too afraid to truly express themselves, I would like to bring awareness towards this issue to prevent this from becoming a precedent. This is about the laws that we can’t ignore and especially stay silent about. This is not just about me. This is other people. The Department of Human Resources needs to be called out. There are thousands of employees getting hurt from the blind eye of this department not doing anything about these types of claims. They don’t care. Something needs to be done. I am seeking stories from any current/former employees who have experienced discrimination, been fired for retaliation, or anything similar: please come forward, comment below sharing your story, help bring action and create awareness for better employee policy change(s) at Papa John’s Pizza.

One of the most important economic policymaking positions in the country, the president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve, is vacant. 10 years after the financial crash, we can’t afford to make the same mistakes of the past. We need an independent San Francisco Fed president who will fight for working people of color. Instead of filling this position with another Fed insider, we need someone who actually understands and represents workers and people of color in the largest Fed bank region in the country.

*Added 1/21/19 The author of this petition ended up getting poked by a dirty needle themselves, after two other coworkers were poked in the same cafe, not long after starting this petition. Since then, the author went to local Seattle news crews, and only after their story aired did Starbucks put safe sharps disposals in six cafes in Seattle, but they were only the cafes that already had an L&I complaint and fine about this issue before. The author still has yet to hear directly from anyone at Starbucks Corporate. The author still fully intends on hand-delivering this petition to Starbucks HQ. The author is obnoxiously tenacious like that. Exposure to HIV/AIDS, Hep C, Hep B, etc. is a risk in Seattle where there is a heroin/hep c crisis--and an HIV outbreak in at the same time and in the same area that baristas were getting poked by used drug needles while at work. There is no vaccine for Hep C, the available treatment is not a 100% assured cure, and Starbucks refuses to comment to employees when employees mention this risk. Employees risk getting poked, and DO get poked, even when following "protocol" of using gloves and tongs to dispose of used needles left in bathrooms, tampon disposal boxes, and diaper changing stations. It costs almost two thousand dollars just for one round of after-exposure shots, not including other tests, shots, medications, etc. Employees have to pay out-of-pocket for this before being reimbursed until Starbucks's company insurance kicks in. Many baristas cannot afford that, instead resorting to loans and credit cards. Employees who are pregnant or already immuno-compromised have an added risk if poked by a used needle. Employees also have to then use added protection with their sexual partners/spouses for six months minimum/risk exposing them, too. Starbucks makes various excuses from "it looks bad" to "drug users will just take the boxes off the walls and steal the needles." Employees cannot legally be forced to remove needles, but when they ask to call hazmat, they're told "hazmat cost comes from the individual store budget" (a veiled threat of even less staff coverage on an already short-staffed floor because no money to pay them if it is used for hazmat). Making coffee should not come with this kind of easily detoured risk.