Minneapolis, MN – On Sept. 14, workers at nine Minneapolis Jimmy John’s sandwich shop locations filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). They have organized as the IWW Jimmy John’s Workers Union and state they have the support of more than half the workers at the nine Jimmy John’s Minneapolis stores. If the majority of workers vote for the union in the NLRB election, then franchise owner Mike Mulligan will be legally bound to negotiate with them. Since publicly announcing the formation of their union on Sept. 2, Mulligan has refused to meet with the workers.

The Minneapolis Jimmy John’s franchise, owned and operated by Miklin Enterprises, Inc., pays the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, offers no benefits and has no full-time positions outside of management. Jimmy John’s corporate website lists $264,270 as the average yearly net profit for operating a franchise. Union members estimate that Rob and Mike Mulligan, owners of Miklin, Inc. made an annual profit of at minimum $2.3 million in the last year alone. The Miklin franchise plans to open four new locations this year at an`estimated cost of over $1.2 million.

According to the union, the workers are seeking a pay increase to above minimum wage, consistent scheduling and minimum shift lengths, regularly scheduled breaks, sick days, no-nonsense workers compensation for job-related injuries, an end to sexual harassment at work and basic fairness on the job.

The fast food industry has the lowest rates of unionization and lowest wages in the United States. Only 1.8% of food service workers were represented by a union in 2009, far below the nation-wide figure of 12.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These facts make the unionization attempt at Jimmy Johns in Minneapolis notable.

#MinneapolisMN #JimmyJohns

Minneapolis, MN – The immigrant rights movement scored a victory in Minnesota. Under pressure from a growing boycott and weekly protests, on July 14 the owner of nine local Jimmy John’s sandwich shops in Minneapolis and the western suburbs signed a public statement condemning Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB1070 law and calling for immigration reform.

The statement signed by franchise president Michael Mulligan says, “We reject Arizona's SB1070 and urge the federal government to repeal this misguided law. We support the passage of just and humane comprehensive immigration reform.”

In May the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) initiated the Boycott Arizona-MN (BAM!) campaign to build the Arizona boycott in Minnesota. The first target chosen was Jimmy John's Minneapolis franchise owner, MikLin Enterprises, Inc.

Jimmy John's is one of the companies targeted in the national boycott campaign aimed at repealing Arizona's racist and anti-immigrant law, SB1070. They are targeted because company head Jimmy John Liautaud contributes large amounts of money to anti-immigrant Arizona politicians like Joe Arpaio and John McCain, who are staunch supporters of SB1070.

According to MIRAc member Anh Pham, “This is a victory for the immigrant rights movement. It's the first victory we know of against one of the companies targeted in the national Arizona boycott. We made it happen here through a campaign to get hundreds of Minnesotans to sign a petition pledging to boycott Arizona, and through regular protests in front of Jimmy John's in downtown Minneapolis. We hope this helps open the doors to more such victories around the country to force Arizona to repeal SB1070.”

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #JimmyJohns #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota

Minneapolis, MN – One June 14, about 30 immigrants and immigrant rights supporters picketed outside of Jimmy Johns sandwich shop at Block E in downtown Minneapolis. Jimmy Johns is one of the companies targeted in the national boycott against Arizona in response to SB1070, the racist anti-immigrant law Arizona passed in April. The protest demanded that Jimmy Johns founder James ‘Jimmy John’ Liautaud stop supporting anti-immigrant politicians in Arizona such as Joe Arpaio and John McCain.

When the protest began, franchise owner Rob Mulligan came out of the store and offered the protesters free sandwiches, which they refused. He then handed out a statement to the protesters which said he respects their right to protest against SB1070, but doesn't want his business to be a target. When pressed on what his position is on SB1070, he said he would sign a petition against SB1070 but only “in a personal capacity.” He also said he'd pass on the protesters' message to the national office.

Prior to the 2008 election, the Liautaud Development Group LLC (which is run by Jimmy John Liautaud) funneled $10,000 to the Sheriff Command Association, which smeared Mayor Joe Arpaio's opponent, Dan Saban. Nationally, Liautaud has funded Senator John McCain, who supports SB1070 (giving him $4600 in 2008), as well as contributing $5000 in 2009 to the Free and Strong America PAC, which contributes to anti-immigrant U.S. Representatives and Senators. Jimmy Johns franchises pay a percentage of their profits to the central company, so money spent at Jimmy Johns in Minnesota is being used to fund anti-immigrant politicians in Arizona who brought forward SB1070 and other anti-immigrant laws.

The Jimmy Johns protest on Monday was part of the Boycott Arizona-Minnesota (BAM!) campaign. BAM! is a campaign of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) to spread the Arizona boycott in Minnesota in response to SB1070, and to fight against similar anti-immigrant laws and proposals in Minnesota. The campaign will continue to target businesses like Jimmy Johns and politicians that support SB1070.

A video from the protest, including an interview with protesters and with the franchise owner , is available here on TheUpTake.org.

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #Arizona #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #JimmyJohns #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota