NLRB Files Complaint Against Socialist-Themed Vegan Meat Company That Fired Union Organizers

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Vice

The National Labor Review Board found merit that No Evil Foods illegally terminated the two union organizers, and issued a complaint on Wednesday alleging the company violated the law by firing employees because they "assisted a union."

By Lauren Kaori Gurley

Earlier this year, the vegan meat company No Evil Foods—which sells socialist-branded products at 5,500 grocery stores nationwide, including Whole Foods—fired two production workers at its Weaverville, North Carolina production plant who led a union drive at the company and circulated a petition asking for hazard pay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The workers say the company told them they were being terminated for violating social distancing and dress code policies.

This week, the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) found merit that the company illegally terminated the two workers, an NLRB spokesperson confirmed to Motherboard. According to a federal complaint issued Wednesday and obtained by Motherboard, the company violated the law by firing workers because they "assisted a union" and "circulat[ed] a petition seeking hazard pay...for the purposes of mutual aid and protection."

Under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, it is illegal for employers to discriminate or retaliate against workers for organizing coworkers to improve their working conditions or for attempting to form unions.


JASON KOEBLER

Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pky5y9/nlrb-files-complaint-against-socialist-themed-vegan-meat-company-that-fired-union-organizers

[WVreaper]

1. See No Evil

Buy No Evil

[TygrBright]

2. Was already ordering Irony Meters by the case... guess I better upload it to the truckload. n/t

[icymist]

3. How evil of them!

Wow!

[Indyfan53]

4. This is surprising.

Trump’s NLRB has allowed union busting at other companies, but not this one?

[TomVilmer]

5. This company are faking progressive values harder than they are faking meat

It is a huge red-flag when a company uses this much left-wing imagery and has a turnover rate as high as they do.
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/6/no-evil-foods-unionizing-workers-organizing

[marble falls]

6. They've done other "off" things, too, Steve ...

https://www.businessinsider.com/no-evil-foods-backlash-over-coronavirus-response-2020-3?op=1

A vegan company lost more than 10% of its workforce after it gave employees 24 hours to decide whether to keep working during the coronavirus pandemic or quit


North Carolina-based vegan brand No Evil Foods lost over 10% of its workforce after issuing a stark ultimatum during the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 19, the day North Carolina reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus infecting someone via community spread, No Evil Foods gave workers an ultimatum.

The company told employees they had 24 hours to choose from these options.

The first was to keep showing up, with a temporary bump in pay to follow for perfect attendance.

The other was to quit, with no compensation but retaining the ability to apply for a job again sometime in the future — albeit without a guarantee of getting one again. The third was to resign, not to come back, and receive three weeks' severance.

The document was published by the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor union. Employees who accepted severance agree that, for the next year, they will not "engage in employment in competition with No Evil," nor reveal the terms of their departure to the media, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by Business Insider.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

7. Does it strike anyone else as ironic

that a company characterized as socialist themed would be against their workers being organized? The socialist themed description is what, a trick used by the headline writer to influence perception?

[Cal Carpenter]

8. Guessing it is the company's use of "Zapatista" on the packaging

that inspired the headline writer. I have no idea if the company claims to be socialist in any way, obviously not in practice with what sounds like retaliatory, union-busting bullshit.

In any case, looks to me like they need to get the word Zapatista out of their cynical virtue-signalling marketing mouths. Hypocrites.