The People

Quincy, IL, United States

MAY 26, 2023 — 

We feel compelled to make a statement at this time that our entire community is ardently awaiting justice for Rebecca Bliefnick. As it is a matter involving a woman victim of prolonged domestic abuse which was reported and dismissed, as it clearly involves Robert Adrian (although not as factfinder) and Schnack Law (defending the alleged perpetrator of violence), as it is occurring in the same geographic location at a very similar point in time … it feels to us relevant to formally communicate with this audience that our hearts have broken and our grief is strong. If you pray, then pray for the truth to be upheld. If you have the time and heart for it, please lift up this story that the whole world may know what a beautiful soul was stolen from us.

e.change.org

Sign the Petition!

Crew members at four Trader Joe’s stores have now voted to unionize, with more on the way.

But Trader Joe’s, which cultivates a progressive brand, has rolled out intense union-busting campaigns at every store that’s filed for a union election, and refuses to bargain in good faith with its workers.

This movement is not going away. Trader Joe’s crew members have watched the company culture change from one that values its workers with good pay, benefits, and atmosphere to a company with increasing turnover, declining benefits, and stagnating wages.

Instead of supporting workers’ right to organize, Trader Joe’s has doubled down on union-busting — using the same tactics as companies like Amazon and Starbucks.

Trader Joe’s United needs your help to force Trader Joe’s to stop union busting and live up to the company’s own “number one core value” — integrity.

Can you sign our urgent petition telling Trader Joe’s you support the union

Like workers at Starbucks who recently won their first union elections, workers at Trader Joe’s are joining a new surge of union organizing. 

Trader Joe’s United has now won elections to represent workers at four Trader Joe’s stores, located in Oakland, Louisville, Minneapolis, and Hadley, Massachusetts. Yet, contrary to their progressive, worker-friendly image, Trader Joe’s has responded in Starbucks-like fashion, by aggressively cracking down on organizing and stonewalling in contract negotiations with the new union reps. 

On March 1, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found Trader Joe’s had illegally suspended and fired a worker at a Houston store who raised concerns about workplace policies. The company was required to reinstate the worker and award back pay.

Contribute to Democracy for America Advocacy Fund and fund the fight demanding Trader Joe’s stop union-busting now!

dfa-af.com

The first major wagon train to the northwest departs from Elm Grove, Missouri, on the Oregon Trail.

Although U.S. sovereignty over the Oregon Territory was not clearly established until 1846, American fur trappers and missionary groups had been living in the region for decades, to say nothing of the Native Americans who had settled the land centuries earlier. Dozens of books and lectures proclaimed Oregon’s agricultural potential, piquing the interest of white American farmers. The first overland immigrants to Oregon, intending primarily to farm, came in 1841 when a small band of 70 pioneers left Independence, Missouri. They followed a route blazed by fur traders, which took them west along the Platte River through the Rocky Mountains via the easy South Pass in Wyoming and then northwest to the Columbia River. In the years to come, pioneers came to call the route the Oregon Trail.

In 1842, a slightly larger group of 100 pioneers made the 2,000-mile journey to Oregon. The next year, however, the number of emigrants skyrocketed to 1,000. The sudden increase was a product of a severe depression in the Midwest combined with a flood of propaganda from fur traders, missionaries, and government officials extolling the virtues of the land. Farmers dissatisfied with their prospects in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, hoped to find better lives in the supposed paradise of Oregon.

for the complete article history.com