{"id":18888,"date":"2014-09-25T12:31:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T16:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ignatiansolidarity.net\/?p=18888"},"modified":"2017-07-10T13:47:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:47:27","slug":"law-labor-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2014\/09\/25\/law-labor-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Law, Labor, Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY GUEST BLOGGER<\/a> |\u00a0<\/strong>September 25, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n written by: Nathaniel Romano, S.J. | T<\/strong><\/em>his post was originally published on The Jesuit Post<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n September is a month of transitions. Summer is over, but not quite. Seasons are changing; days are equally crisp and cool, warm and muggy. Winter is coming, but\u00a0pumpkin spices<\/a>\u00a0keep it at bay for another few weeks.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Labor Day traditionally marks the \u201cunofficial\u201d end to the summer season and the last real communal revelry until the holiday season at the end of the year. It is an odd duck of a holiday, ending a season of vacation and time away from work with a\u00a0celebration of workers and the benefits they bring\u00a0<\/a>to our communities. Odd maybe, but often more and more relevant as the struggles of the labor movement fade into history.<\/p>\n This year, though, that fade was \u2014 however briefly \u2014 halted. \u00a0Beginning earlier this summer<\/a>, fast food workers across the United States began a series of labor actions aimed at improving wages and conditions. Everything culminated in a series of strikes, sit-ins, and other actions at numerous fast food franchises in over 100 cities. Several groups of organizers have documented many of these stories on the\u00a0web<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0social media<\/a>\u00a0(#StrikeFastFood<\/a>). \u00a0They called for serious improvements<\/a>\u00a0in the quality of working conditions. Perhaps at the top of this list is the call for higher pay. A\u00a0$15 minimum wage<\/a>\u00a0has been a clarion call, along with demands for health insurance and other benefits.<\/p>\n The\u00a0history of the labor movement\u00a0<\/a>has often been a history of civil disobedience and the use of the legal system as a tool on both sides. Such is equally true today. #StrikeFastFood highlights the use by labor leaders of the National Labor Relations Board to seek improvement in the lot of the average worker. At the end of July, they scored a major victory when\u00a0the NLRB ruled that McDonald\u2019s could be held accountable<\/a>, at least in part, for the behavior of its nominally independent franchise owners. McDonald\u2019s can, of course, challenge that decision; expect lawsuits either way. During the recent strike, however, corporate leaders invoked the specter of civil unrest and disobedience, and the result was\u00a0arrests across the country<\/a>. The\u00a0exact number and causes\u00a0<\/a>of arrests have varied depending on whom one talks to.<\/p>\n