I was dying to tell y'all about this yesterday, but I couldn't since it didn't run until today. Living proof that I have the best job in the universe at times. (Since we didn't update the paper's Web site last night, the stuff in brackets are edits I suspect were made.)
No, I didn't get to see any of the, ahem, merchandise, but is it necessary for me to tell you that I basically choked on my own tongue trying not to laugh while I interviewed the GM?
HOBART – Three former workers for a local warehouse that distributes adult-oriented entertainment and products claim their employer fired them for wanting to unionize its workers.
More than 40 Teamsters have been picketing all week in front of Leisure Time Entertainment, [address redacted], for what they say are unfair labor practices on behalf of Leisure Time and its general manager, Cara Jacques. No current employees are on the picket lines, according to Les Lis, trustee and organizer for Teamsters Local 142 in Gary.
Workers approached Local 142 to be its collective bargaining unit, and he instructed them to organize on their own time, Lis said. The workers approached others during break time to sign petitions to form a union.
During one of these times, a unidentified man came into the break room, grabbed the petition, made a copy of it and returned a copy with a few of the names crossed off it, Lis said.
Eric Rogers, of Gary, was one of the names. He was fired first.
”They said it was for solicitation during work hours,” Rogers said.
Clyde Byndum and Anthony Brown, both also of Gary, had also signed the petition, They, too, were fired.
”They got me because of ‘points,’” Byndum said. “We’re allowed 10 points before we get fired, and one day, I couldn’t come in to work because I had to put a new starter on my car. They let me finish out the week, and 10 minutes before quitting time, they came down with four different citations and fired me.”
All three of the firings violate the National Labor Relations Act, Lis said, because they speak to unfair labor practices. The local has since filed its petition with the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago.
”The boss isn’t even supposed to know who’s involved in organizing, so who’s this guy giving them the information?” he said. “(The firings) puts a scare into the other people, but all they want is a livable wage, respect on the job and just cause for termination.”
[Before they were fired, Rogers and Byndum were making $9 per hour. The company offers health insurance "which we can't afford," according to Rogers, and a 401K plan.]
Jacques said her attorneys are waiting for the petition to be filed; otherwise, she couldn’t speak to anything other than the employees are trying to organize.
Leisure Time Entertainment also has [branches in Las Vegas, Louisiana, West Hollywood and Canoga Park, Calif. Workers in at least one of the California branches aren't unionized].
Oh, whatEVER. 
