On the evening of Wednesday, December 21st, Seattle Solidarity Network held a loud and lively picket in solidarity with Natalia, a member of the East Bay Solidarity Network and a former worker at the Whole Foods in San Francisco. After 13 years without incident, Whole Foods fired Natalia for tapping a co-worker’s hat.This co-worker did not report the incident and was taken aback when he heard that Natalia had been fired. He and Natalia worked closely together in the prepared foods department for over 5 years without any issues whatsoever.

Natalia had reached the wage cap of $19 per hour and was universally liked and respected by her co-workers. She often spoke out against injustices she witnessed in the workplace and acted as a translator for Spanish language speakers in the store. SeaSol is proud to stand with Natalia, the East Bay Solidarity Network, and many others across the country who are demanding Natalia's reinstatement, with full back pay.

Please support this campaign by contacting Whole Foods Regional President David Lannon, demanding they reinstate Natalia with full back pay: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or calling 510-428-7400.

SeaSol's months long dispute with the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and executive director Sharon Lee has turned nasty. LIHI accuses SeaSol of racism, and has produced fraudulent photographs to discredit SeaSol and our member at the heart of the fight, George Berumen. This statement is to clear SeaSol's record and to present the actual facts of the dispute.

George Against the Giant

In June of 2011, SeaSol was contacted by George Berumen, a former tenant of the Frye Apartments, an historic hotel managed by the Low Income Housing Institute. George met with SeaSol, became a member, and told us his story, backed by copious documentation including letters to and from LIHI. George had been wronged by LIHI. While a tenant at the Frye, his apartment was routinely filled with fumes he believed was smoke from crack cocaine, fumes that were making him feel sick. George repeatedly tried to bring his situation to the attention of the Frye manager and LIHI staff, but he says they didn't believe him and failed to resolve the situation to his satisfaction. At this point, in April of 2011, he decided to move out into a homeless shelter rather than continue to endanger his health at the apartment.

After leaving the Frye, LIHI hit George with a bill for cleaning fees totaling $139.50, and withheld George's deposit and advance rent totaling $99. These bogus charges are at the heart of SeaSol's dispute with LIHI. While LIHI offers no justification whatsoever for its continuing to withhold George's security deposit and advance rent, they claim that the cleaning fees are justified. They say it took Frye staff nine hours to clean a ten-foot by twenty-foot apartment, and have produced photos to show the state of the apartment after George's departure. However, these photos are fraudulent.

In February 2011, Dominic was working at an industrial marine repair shop in Kent when an out-of-control piece of equipment smashed into his truck in the parking lot. He asked for compensation from the company, but got nothing. This put him in a terrible position, since his wages at the shop were so low that he could not afford the repair bill. Soon they laid him off. When he finally took his ex-employer to small claims court, they signed a mediated agreement to settle for $900 compensation within one month, and it looked like the issue was finally settled. Then a month went by, and another, and the $900 never arrived.

One day Dominic called the company's owner to ask when he would get the compensation. "I will never pay you," the owner replied, "because I always win."

So Dominic joined SeaSol and prepared for action. On September 21st, 30 of us walked with him into the company's office to present our demand that they honor their agreement. After another week went by with no response, we began contacting local marine-industry companies, two per day, warning them not to do business with Dominic's former employer. Meanwhile we began preparing to escalate the pressure with more aggressive action against the company. Then on October 11th, the company called Dominic to say they were ready to settle. Dominic received his $900 that same night.

Thanks to everyone who participated in helping Dominic win his fight! He'll be there for yours.

When longtime SeaSol member Neftali needed Canadian money for a trip to visit family, he went to a downtown Chase bank branch, near his work.  There, what should have been a simple transaction turned into a nightmare. Although he came prepared with his Chase debit card and PIN, his valid temporary driver’s license, and his expired license, none of it was enough.  He was hassled, questioned aggressively, and told he needed to go home and bring in his passport to prove his identity - or perhaps it was his immigration status? Neftali, who is a dual U.S./Mexican citizen, was furious at this treatment and demanded to speak to the manager.  Finally, they allowed him to complete the transaction. He took the Canadian cash and left for his vacation, thinking the whole awful Chase experience was behind him. But it was just beginning. He soon realized, to his shock, that the stack of bills Chase had given him contained $1,000 less than it was supposed to.

Once back in Seattle, Neftali confronted Chase management about the missing money. They wouldn’t believe him. He asked to see the surveillance video of the transaction, but they refused to let him see it, despite admitting that it existed and that the teller had broken bank policy in the way the money had been handled.

So on May 31st, Neftali marched back into the bank together with thirty other SeaSol members. Our demand: either give Neftali his missing $1,000, or else show the video footage to prove their claim that they’d handed him the correct amount.

After two weeks went by with no response from Chase, we started turning on the pressure. We covered the area around the branch with posters warning customers, “Banking with Chase? Count it twice!”. Chase kept ripping them down, so we kept reposting them continually over the next three months. Meanwhile we picketed the branch twice, then expanded our pickets to cover four other downtown Chase branches. The posters began featuring a large photo of the branch manager’s face. Chase still wouldn’t yield, so we began looking for ways to pressure higher-level company officials. When the Chamber of Commerce invited Chase’s northwest regional CEO to address a “Young Professionals” event, SeaSol’ers were there leafleting the crowd while wearing mocking signs with her face printed on them.

Finally, after one more noisy multi-bank-branch picket, Chase’s District Manager arranged a meeting with Neftali to discuss resolving the dispute. The manager wanted to meet with him one-on-one behind closed doors, but Neftali insisted on bringing two other SeaSol members to back him up.  At the meeting, the district manager delivered a lecture about how upset he and his colleagues were about this conflict and our tactics, and about how Chase admitted no wrongdoing. Then he handed Neftali a check for $1,000.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the actions that brought about this victory! We proved that when we’re united and determined, even enemies as gigantic as JPMorgan Chase are not invulnerable.