Naked City
Wobblies & Fresh Plus at War
By Diana Welch, Fri., Feb. 4, 2005
Since then, Hastings and fellow IWW members have held numerous leafletings outside of the Clarksville Fresh Plus, the branch from which Hastings was fired. (On Jan. 25, the IWW filed another charge on behalf of Nellie Moore, another Fresh Plus employee and union sympathizer, also citing unlawful dismissal.) Last Sunday, in a freezing rain, a group of about 11 people gathered in yet another attempt to raise awareness of the situation and to demand the rehiring of both employees, with back pay. "I want my job back to show other workers that, actually, you can win the fight," Hastings says, hopefully. "Getting that kind of victory would show people that organizing from within is possible." Hastings has the full support of his union behind him.
"This is an illegal firing, as far as we're concerned," says local IWW Branch Secretary Dan Elgin. "Getting fired is the death penalty for a worker, and [in this instance] a gross violation of the law. We want workers to know that we're around, and that we're here to support them."
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