Pizza Time Strike Remembered

On Friday Feb. 12, 2010, a small group of people braved the rain to remember the Olympia Pizza Time Strike of 2005. Pizza strike supporters held a banner at 4^th and Jefferson streets demanding a “Living Wage, Health Care, Retirement, Paid Vacation, Sick Days… For All.” People who drove and walked by the banner generally agreed with it, while one guy said “go to Canada!” Participants noted that working conditions haven’t improved since the strike and lock-out happened five years ago. One pizza worker who went on strike lamented that the current Pizza Time workers and most of the workers in Olympia and elsewhere don’t have any of the benefits listed on the banner, and can still be fired without cause.

Check out Pizza Time Strike history at:

http://olympiaworkers.blogspot.com/2009/02/olympiaworkers-pizza-time-strike.html

On Feb. 12, 2005 all the Pizza Time workers in Olympia walked off the job after presenting a list of demands to the new owner to improve working conditions and reinstate two wrongly fired co-workers. When the owner failed to meet these demands the workers created a daily protest at 4^th and Jefferson streets in downtown Olympia. With community support, Olympia Pizza Time closed down after eight days of picketing.

In Aug of 2005, former repo-man Heath Flores bought the Olympia Pizza Time franchise and locked out the striking workers. Heath used various intimidation tactics including suing the workers in federal court, while playing the victim in the situation to bust the strike. Heath bought off the replacement workers with a futon and air conditioner to keep them loyal and working. Heath even fake cried during one meeting with the striking workers. By this time most of the striking pizza workers had other jobs but wanted to establish a grassroots union that could improve working conditions at Pizza Time and elsewhere in Olympia. The Pizza Time strikers remain locked out five years later.

The effort to create a local grassroots union was attacked from all angles and nipped in the bud here in Olympia. Business owners and other labor unions in particular didn’t like the idea. The Olympia Workers Association (OWA) lasted about two years before becoming the Olympia Workers Resource (http://olympiaworkers.net).

Such a union, if active, could drastically alter power relations in town. Business owners would have to deal with their workers as an organized body that could shut down their business at any time instead of people that can be replaced individually and fired without cause. The threat of workers getting together and taking action together is that they will start demanding health care and retirement benefits, sick days and safe working conditions, paid vacation and a living wage. Workers will start to demand that they have a say in how the business is run. The dictatorship at work would be broken if such a union existed.

Right now is as good of time as ever to get organized with the people you work with. Form a union where decisions are made directly by workers and any worker can join. Then stand up for each other. Working conditions won’t get better until you do.