A federal administrative law judge has ruled that a Twin Cities Jimmy John's franchisee violated the union organizing rights of six employees by firing them last year after they publicly protested the restaurants' sick leave policy.
The workers, who were all active in an attempt to unionize 10 local Jimmy John's, must be reinstated to their jobs and given back pay, according to an order late Friday by the Washington, D.C.,-based judge, Arthur Amchan.
"It's certainly a victory," said Erik Forman, one of the fired workers.
MikLin Enterprises, owner of the 10 Jimmy John's, said in an e-mail that, "we respectfully disagree with the [judge's] findings ... and we will decide our next steps shortly."
MikLin, owned by Mike Mulligan and his son Rob Mulligan, can appeal the decision, and Forman said he thinks the company will do so. Reinstatement of the fired workers would be postponed pending an appeal.
Amchan upheld much of a National Labor Relations Board complaint against MikLin. The board's Minneapolis office pressed the complaint after investigating unfair labor practice charges filed by the union against MikLin.
The judge's ruling is the latest turn in an unusual unionization battle pitting the Industrial Workers of the World against the popular sandwich chain.
In October 2010, the IWW narrowly lost a union election to represent MikLin's workers -- 87-85. It was a rare attempt to organize the fast-food industry, conducted by a union outside of the mainstream labor movement and known for grass-roots militancy.