Panera Bread Continues to Violate Federal Laws after Settling 34 Unfair Labor Practice Charges

Source: BCTGM

Kalamazoo, MI. – On June 28, three months after the majority of bakers employed at Panera Bread Café’s in the I-94 corridor division of Michigan voted to become union members, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Federal Complaint against the company for violating worker rights.

The Panera bakers voted on March 23 to be represented by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) Local 70. Following the union representation election, both the company and the union filed unfair labor practice charges against one another. After several weeks of intense investigation by Region 7 of the NLRB, the company’s charges were dismissed due to lack of cooperation and merit. The NLRB did find merit to all of the BCTGM’s charges and scheduled a Federal Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The company decided to settle the complaint rather than go through a Federal Hearing.

The settlement includes withdraw of all objections to the NLRB-conducted election; thousands of dollars in back pay to the bakers as well as thousands more in additional monies to resolve their failure to bargain. The settlement further requires management to post a 60-day government notice in all of the I-94 corridor Panera Bread locations. The notice lists all of alleged violations along with a signed promise not to further violate workers’ rights as protected under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Charges in the Federal Complaint include:

Promising employees they could be promoted to a higher paid position and telling workers they could vote for the next person to fill the (higher paying) position in order to discourage employee support for the union;

Coercively interrogating employees about their union sympathies;

Soliciting employee complaints and grievances and promising employees increased benefits and improved terms and conditions of employment if they refrained from union organizing activities;

Threatening employees with loss of benefits if they selected the union as their bargaining representative;

Threatening workers with termination because they engaged in union activities;

Unilaterally decreasing work hours without bargaining with BCTGM Local 70.

FULL story at link.
.



Read more: http://bctgm.org/2012/09/panera-bread-continues-to-violate-federal-laws-after-settling-34-unfair-labor-practice-charges/

---

Mods I have permission to post including the bullets points from: Corrina

Director of Public Relations & Communications

BCTGM International Union

10401 Connecticut Avenue

Kensington, Md. 20895

Phone: (301) 933-8600