Martin Luther King Day currently is honored by schools & many businesses. It's a national holiday to honor a man who lead us to a better America in terms of race relations & freedom. First off, I love Holiday Inn; it’s a great company. Holiday Inn has always represented itself as a company that puts people first. It has supported many charities all over the globe. The company always send us notifications if there’s something in the community or the country that may need assistance. They email us donation forms to help support many causes. They sponsor food drives, help fire/ flood victims, and they assist impoverished kids get the food & school supplies they need. Another thing that’s great about the company is that it champions itself on its diversity (guests and staff). That’s also why I was so disappointed to learn that the company does not extend these same principles to their employees when it chooses not to provide Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for its employees. As Coretta Scott King wrote, “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. It is a day of volunteering to… [build] the beloved community of his dream.” While Holiday Inn has generous vacation policies in many ways, as an industry leader, it can surely participate in this important historic holiday as well. By joining other companies in observing MLK Day, Holiday Inn will truly demonstrate its commitment to a diverse staff and customer base and to the achievements of the civil rights movement.

Contract negotiations often drag out for such a long time that our members wind up working without a contract. We have the right to bargain at this time per our contract. It is important the University respect the collective bargaining agreement under which we operate. We also believe bargaining now (January 2018) is mutually beneficial to GEO and UIC. Starting the process sooner will lead to a quicker resolution and better learning conditions for students.

We would like fellow restaurant professionals (front and back of house) regardless of nation of origin, status, race, gender, age, or identity to know that you are not alone. You deserve dignity and respect at work: the law is on your side. Stand together and make your voices heard. We stand with you. (Nos gustaría que los profesionales de los restaurantes (igual los de enfrente y los de la cocina) sin embargo de su nación de origen, estatus, raza, genero, edad o identidad que sepan: usted no está solo. Todos merecen dignidad y respeto en el trabajo: la ley está de su lado. Permanezcan unidos y levanten sus voces. Nosotros estamos unidos con ustedes.) The company has declined to hear us. Please read our testimonies, and sign and share our petition in support. Thank you. (La compañía se ha negado a escucharnos. Por favor lea nuestros testimonios, y firme y comparta nuestra petición en apoyo.) Testimonies (Testimonios) ---------------------------------------- Maria D. I worked for the company for two years as a busser. I was paid $5.00 per hour plus $15-$20 in tips. This was my compensation regardless of whether I worked half day or a full day. When I was four months pregnant I was asked to move heavy boxes. I spoke up to let them know that those boxes were too heavy for me that far along in my pregnancy. They responded forcing me to move them and by shortening my schedule to two hours a week. The entire time I worked there they never allowed me to have rest or food breaks. I was never granted a paid sick day. (Trabajé para la compañía durante dos años como busser. Me pagaron $5.00 por hora más $15- $20 en propinas por día. Esta fue mi compensación independientemente de si trabajé medio día o un día completo. Cuando tenía cuatro meses de embarazo, me pidieron que moviera unas cajas pesadas. Les hice saber que esas cajas eran demasiado pesadas para mí a esa altura de mi embarazo. Respondieron con obligarme a moverlas y cortaron mi horario a dos horas a la semana. Todo el tiempo que trabajé allí nunca me permitieron descanso ni tiempo de comer. Nunca me concedieron un día de enfermedad pagado.) ---------------------------------- Maria O. I experienced a lot of discrimination up to and including verbal and physical abuse. On one occasion, I was working on the line with one other coworker making pizzas. The chef joined us on the line to help us because it got busy all of the sudden. He put the pizza into the oven using the wooden pizza peel and proceeded to throw it at me. He was obviously upset, so I just moved into a corner and kept trying to work. He would refer to me as a useless. When I was pregnant and I asked for a day off they would give me an unpaid day off and then take an additional day off my schedule for the week. On another occasion I was reprimanded for something I hadn't done. Because I was pregnant my blood pressure got so high I ended up in the hospital. Not once during my entire pregnancy was I allowed a break to eat. I honestly believe that the company takes advantage of people's need to work and discriminates based on gender and nation of origin. I started earning $11.00 per hour. I worked there for six years and never saw a pay increase, nor had a paid sick day. (Experimenté mucha discriminación e incluso abuso verbal y físico. En una ocasión, estaba trabajando en la línea con otra compañera haciendo pizza y el chef ejecutivo se unió a nosotros porque se puso muy ocupado de repente. Despues de haber metido la pizza al horno él procedió a tirarme la tabla que se usa para meter la pizza al horno. Porque el estaba obviamente muy molesto yo solamente me mudé a una esquina y seguí intentando trabajar. Él rutinariamente se referiría a mí como una babosada. Cuando estaba embarazada, si pedía un día libre para una cita con el médico, me daban un día libre sin pagar. Luego tomarían un día adicional de mi horario para la semana. Lo que de hecho me dejó dos días sin trabajo y pago en una semana. En otra ocasión, fui reprendida por algo que no había hecho. Debido a que estaba embarazada, mi presión arterial se elevó tanto que terminé en el hospital. Ni una sola vez durante todo mi embarazo se me permitió tomarme un descanso. Sinceramente, creo que la empresa aprovecha la necesidad de las personas de trabajar y discrimina en función del género y la nación de origen. Empeze ganando $11.00. Trabajé allí durante seis años y nunca vi un aumento en salario, ni tuve un día de enfermedad pagado.) ------------------------------------------- Santos M. I suffer from a disease that occasionally makes my hands and feet swell and causes a lot of pain. They never understood that some days the pain and swelling was so great I could not walk or hold anything without excessive pain. Instead of allowing me the time to treat the swelling so I could work better, the chef would pressure me to work faster while insulting me for my symptoms. I worked there for five years. The last day I worked there was because the chef told me I was of no use to him because of my disease. He told me to go home and he never wanted to see me again. (Yo padezco de una enfermedad que ocasionalmente hincha las manos y los pies y causa mucho dolor. Nunca entendieron que algunos días la inflamación era tan grande que no podía caminar ni sostener nada sin un dolor excesivo. En lugar de darme el tiempo para tratar la inflamación para poder trabajar mejor, el chef me presionaría para que trabaje más rápido mientras me insultaba por mis síntomas. Trabajé allí cinco años. El último día que trabajé allí fue porque el chef me dijo que no le servía para nada debido a mi enfermedad. Me dijo que me fuera a casa y que nunca más me quería volver a ver.)

CPHL is the only company like ours to offer such poor benefits to its employees. None of our competitors offer health coverage through third-party administrators, they provide their employees direct access to coverage. Every year we lose valuable staff to these companies. Our health insurance today is making us sick, not healthy. The Centers for Disease Control states that “maintaining a healthier workforce can lower direct costs such as insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims. It will also positively impact many indirect costs such as absenteeism and worker productivity.” We want to feel confident that CPHL is invested in us as much as we are invested in CPHL. None of us want to work for a company that devalues its employees this way. Please improve our health insurance coverage, what we have today is inadequate, and it makes us feel like the only thing you care about is YOUR bottom line.

Many associates were forced to remove their nose piercings if they wanted to remain employed, which is rather unfortunate and unfair. If appropriate tattoos are allowed to be visible, shouldn't the same go for small nose piercings? Furthermore, a small nose stud piercing should not affect the quality of one's work ethic.

In most restaurants, gratuity is automatically added to parties of eight or more. They do this in order to ensure the server can provide the best possible service. I believe that adding that same policy to Denny’s would improve our overall experience. As of now, that option is not available to the employees and therefore there are many times the servers are not tipped, especially in areas like Orlando which are highly frequented by tourists who don’t know the customs. This has caused servers to continue to take more tables in order to maximize their chances of making enough money. By doing so, the guests service is sometimes compromised. If they could ensure they would be tipped, they could take less tables and focus on the guests which would create a better experience for both the guests and the employees.

Dollar General prides itself in being inclusive. "Diversity and inclusion at Dollar General means doing our best to make sure the company is a welcoming place for all employees, no matter their backgrounds or personal circumstances, and recognizing the value of having a broad range of perspectives ..." And their dress code was created "in order to convey a positive and professional image to our customers". Yet when it comes to "unnatural hair colors" it is still prohibited. According to a study done in 2008 by Clairol (a leading salon color brand) 75 percent of American women dye their hair and it's been increasing since then. This days it is more acceptable to dye your hair unnatural colors and both males and females of all ages do. So it would be denying a job opportunity to a majority of woman and man just because of old customs since a hair color does not limit a persons ability to perform a great job or give excellent customer service. As long as we keep our uniform clean and offer great customer service, the color of our hair should not matter, we should be included too!

I’ve been a barista at Starbucks for nearly 4 years in multiple states and currently work in Wilsonville, Oregon. My wife is due to give birth to our first baby in less than 2 weeks. For so many soon-to-be fathers, feeling anxious is normal, but I’m even more nervous because we don’t have access to any paid parental leave. In order to help support my wife during her pregnancy, I used up some of my vacation and sick time, which is now running short. Currently, I have a week and a half left of vacation or sick time which I expect to use after our delivery. Our benefits allowed us the family planning financial assistance necessary for infertility treatment, but now the ability to be present during the most crucial stage of my family’s development is in jeopardy. As a single income family with a new infant, we simply cannot afford to take unpaid time off. The current partner benefits system works against expecting parents, something we have unfortunately found out the hard way. The part time disability that my wife and I pay into does not allow any paid time off to care for my wife after birth, because pregnancy is considered as a preexisting condition. As our child is scheduled to arrive during the holiday season, the ability to be a part of the postpartum process is even more worrisome. I made the choice to work at Starbucks after a 17 year long career because I have received great benefits, including health insurance. I’m a partner and a shareholder in the company - but when it comes to paid family leave, it’s as if my contributions and sacrifices to Starbucks don't matter. It is incredibly frustrating to know that new fathers who work in the corporate office receive 12 weeks paid parental leave - time that would make a world of difference for my family. These rights should be offered to every partner, in every retail store, and would impress upon the company an even more supportive and fulfilling workplace. I’m sharing my story because I know that it’s not just me who needs to be able to take paid parental leave - I’ve talked to so many other men at work who are shocked to find out that we don’t receive any paid time to be there when we have children. The time of fathers and husbands to only be financial contributors has come and gone. My desire to be an equal part of the rearing of my children and caretaker seem to be a concept that Starbucks has yet to consider. For relationships like ours, that don’t have assistance from family and friends, we equally rely on each other in times of health and hardships. Currently, Starbucks employees who work in the corporate office receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and birthing mothers receive an additional 6 weeks (18 weeks total). For those of us who work in the stores, birthing mothers and adoptive parents receive 6 weeks paid parental leave - but dads are completely left out - we don’t receive any time at all.

We can no longer be silent about the sexual harassment that may be occurring in Comcast locations. I worked at Comcast call centers in Washington, DC, then Silver Spring, MD, and finally Millersville, MD from 2007 through 2012. At the Millersville location, I felt so uncomfortable around certain male coworkers that I often used the restroom on the other side of the building just so I could avoid being in their presence. When I finally had the courage to report these incidents to our human resources department, I felt that my managers and the colleagues that I had reported retaliated against me. I received threats walking down the call center hallways and was likely singled out during the then upcoming mid-year review. I felt afraid and trapped. I loved my job and I was good at it. My goal was to give customers a positive experience with Comcast and the company’s services, reversing the negative image many have associated with cable companies. But this became increasingly difficult for me to fulfill in Comcast’s toxic work environment. Comcast must act swiftly to address this problem, by conducting an independent third party review of its sexual harassment policies and employee experiences. In conjunction with solutions from this review, I believe the following changes will help employees like me who may still be dealing with harassment at Comcast: 1. HR representatives should be present at call centers and large Comcast workplaces 2. Protect Comcast employees from retaliation for reporting sexual harassment to HR 3. Fire perpetrators of sexual harassment in Comcast workplaces We all deserve a workplace where we can come in and do good work without distraction. We deserve a workplace where we feel safe and empowered to make positive contributions to the company. I believe Comcast’s lax implementation of its sexual harassment policies creates a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for many employees, especially women employees. At the end of the day, the pervasive culture of sexual harassment I experienced at Comcast is bad for business. As an employee of Comcast, my work performance suffered as a result of consistent experiences of sexual harassment. While working at the call center, Comcast customers likely could even hear the sexual and inappropriate comments being made in the background. Most importantly, acts of sexual harassment violate employees’ dignity as human beings. Many Comcast employees may have felt powerless to speak up for themselves and address the situation because HR was not doing enough to protect us from workplace harm. Comcast must be held accountable for its sexual harassment problem and create a safe, respectful work environment.

I am a server at Olive Garden and have been in the service industry for 35 years. For many of those years I made $2.15 per hour. I now make $2.83 per hour. Research suggests that servers and bartenders depend on our tip earnings to pay for essential expenses such as rent and utilities -- and from my experience, I know that is true. I am married 26 years now and like almost all tipped workers, I rely on my guests' tips to support my family. Meanwhile my employer, the Olive Garden, which is part of Darden Restaurants, a member of the National Restaurant Association and Fortune 500 company who's CEO Gene Lee makes 4.27 million per year, is pressuring the US Department of Labor to institute this proposed rule that would allow the company to take our tips and keep them for their own profit. Not only does Olive Garden and the National Restaurant Association think it's okay to pay us as little as $2.13 per hour, but they now also think it's okay to take our tips. But we are here to tell them it's not okay. We deserve fair wages. We deserve to keep our tips. And we deserve a Department of Labor that looks out for us as workers and does not give into the pressure of the National Restaurant Association and their millionaire members. If you agree, please sign this petition calling on the Department of Labor to say NO to tip theft and be sure that servers will get to keep our tips.

REI has a rich history of being a cooperative that has cared about its employees and authentically values them. Up until about 15 years ago this was true, but in recent years REI's leadership has been adopting the corporate practices similar to other large-scale retailers, and we’ve been facing hardships we never thought were possible at our beloved co-op. We’re witnessing an all-time high in employee turnover. For those of us who have been at the co-op for a longtime, it is alarming. There used to be a time when this was a rarity at REI. Moreover, what has historically distinguished our co-op from other retailers is the unparalleled knowledge of the staff who power the stores. When we lose our coworkers due to low pay and too-few hours — it effects our customers’ experience, our phenomenal work culture, and inevitably, it will impact our bottom line. We’re asking REI Board Members and Interim CEO to follow the lead of other retailers, by adopting a $15 Living Wage for all the green vests who make REI the great place that it is to shop. We’re also asking that they guarantee all of us enough hours and more full-time opportunities, because without hours, a Living Wage will make no difference. Essentially, we’re asking that our leadership live up to the REI Co-op’s image, and be the champion for hourly retail employees we know it wants to be. Sharing our expertise to help you live a life outside is the best part of our jobs, and now we’re asking for your help to live a life well lived. Join us in asking the REI Co-op to do better for all of its employees — especially the customer-facing Green Vests and hourly Distribution Workers who have it rough too. #WeAreWorthIt!

My name is Michele Lindor and I am a former manager for BG’s Cowboy’s Saloon in Syracuse, New York. My experience working for BG Cowboy’s Saloon was short-lived but definitely memory packed. I was asked to join the BG team in February 2017. After 2 months of serving, I was promoted to service manager and then quickly took on the responsibility of bar management as well. My hours were strenuous and never ending; I even have slept in the restaurant before because my commute was too long for me to leave and then turn back for my shift in less than 3 hours. I was constantly left to deal with things quite literally by myself and received little to no help from the other management staff; i.e. continually being left as the only manager within the building on weekend nights with minimal training as a manager and no support. Many of my coworkers also experienced terrible treatment by the management team that was let go in July. Turnover is high in the restaurant industry, due to low wages, lack of benefits and strenuous work. Our turnover rate at BG Cowboy’s Saloon was no exception, especially for front of the house employees, where turnover was frankly astronomical and embarrassing due to the sub-minimum hourly wage, poor working conditions and the reputation acquired by the owner’s failure to pay bills rent and possibly even taxes to the State of New York. With the potential closing looming over our heads, instead of taking the easier route of calling it quits, leaving my coworkers behind and moving onto a new workplace, I worked extra hard to ensure that not only I had a job, but that my staff did as well. We banded together and collectively worked together to try and better the entire restaurant. For the last month, I was ensured that the restaurant had a future for the coming holiday season, so when I received the message through text on the morning of Saturday September 23, 2017 that our restaurant was indefinitely closing its doors and our “help” that was flown in from Florida was heading straight back to South Beach, I was shocked and outraged. Not only were our jobs non-existent, but so were our paychecks. Our paychecks dated 09/04/2017-09/10/2017 had bounced and we never received payment from 09/11/2017-09/22/2017. I personally am owed $1889.70. Because of the sudden change, I as well as many of my staff have had to apply for unemployment to receive some sort of repayment for the loss of wages from BG’s. Personally because of this job, I have taken hits to my own bank account by paying out of my own pocket for groceries and supplies for the restaurant because things with vendors soured when the employer failed to pay bills. As a result of going above and beyond, I have been living paycheck to paycheck. When the first paycheck bounced, I was left with $49 in my account and have been forced to live on credit. I, as well as everyone else, has had to scramble to find employment elsewhere. 4 weeks have gone by and we are still not paid for our time on the clock. It is all too common for people in our industry to be taken advantage of and disrespected. My coworkers and I from BG Cowboy’s Saloon went above and beyond for our employer. We deserve to be paid for the work we performed and to be treated with respect. Please join me in asking Bobby Genovese, the millionaire who owns BG Cowboy’s Saloon and BG Capital Group, to do the right thing and pay us the money we are owed and enter a dialogue about how similar situations at his other establishments can be prevented. Thank you,