After coworker and customer witnesses came forward with the truth about Tomania’s on-the-job injury, the state (Department of Labor & Industries) has rejected Tuff Shed management’s story and approved Tomania’s claim for compensation. The company has not appealed the decision. This means Tomania has finally been able to get the surgery she needed, and her knee is starting to getting better. Following our second picket, she has decided to end our public campaign and move on to pursuing legal action against the company.
Picketing starts at Tuff Shed
Saturday, September 20, we took the next step in this campaign with our first picket at Tuff Shed. Allies from Casa Latina and Jobs with Justice walked with us in the pouring rain. We don’t know how many customers chose not to enter when they saw our picket, but at least one who had already entered came to speak with us and then agreed to go elsewhere for his shed. That alone should cost Tuff Shed over $1,000 in lost sales. More action coming soon!
Painting boss agrees to pay wages
In alliance with Casa Latina’s “Worker Defense Committee”, another fight for unpaid wages is over. We visited the boss’s house once, then distributed flyers twice at his church on Sunday mornings. Today he formally (in writing) changed his mind and agreed to pay his former employee’s wages in full, on a schedule they agreed to.
UPDATE: After paying one third of the wages he owed, the boss–Johnnie Moore–has broken his agreement and refused to pay the rest. If anyone has information about Johnnie Moore’s current whereabouts or activities, please email info@seasol.net.
Tuff Shed builder fired after on-the-job injury–action underway
Tomania, who’s been coming out to Solidarity Network actions since the very first one, recently had a serious on-the-job injury while working as a builder for Tuff Shed, a nationwide chain that builds sheds and garages. Her weight came down on her leg at a bad angle, it tore her cartilage, and she collapsed. She couldn’t walk and had to be taken to the hospital. She called and told her boss she’d had a bad injury and wouldn’t be able to work, and hospital staff informed the company that a Workers’ Compensation claim was being filed. A few days later, the boss told her she was fired.
Tuff Shed is claiming they fired Tomania for failing to call in a couple days after her injury, when she was heavily drugged and still not able to walk. The real reason for the firing is obvious: to save the company money on Workers’ Comp insurance. Management is even trying to stick her with the medical bills by claiming – contrary to all witnesses – that the injury did not happen on the job. As a low-income worker and a new mother, she can’t afford to let this stand. She’s been there for us in the past – now it’s time for us all to back her up in this fight against Tuff Shed management.
On Thursday afternoon, July 31st, Tomania and 17 others walked into the Tuff Shed office to present the manager with the demand that the company stop and reverse this abuse of Tomania’s rights. So far they have refused. More serious – and more public – action is coming soon.
Workers demand unpaid wages from house-painting boss
An ex-employee of a painting contractor has been trying for weeks to collect several hundred dollars in unpaid wages. The owner has refused. On Saturday July 19 2008, this worker and about 20 others from the Solidarity Network and Workers Defense Committee (Casa Latina) visited the boss’s house to deliver a final demand that he be paid in full for his work. We also distributed flyers to educate the boss’s neighbors about the problem. If he continues to refuse, we will take further action.