Philadelphia Union to Hold Troubling Chick-Fil-A Giveaway

In fairness, I asked two people in the marketing department who I know reasonably well about the situation. They basically shrugged and said to me that the marketing department has nothing to do with sponsorship issues and the subject quickly changed to something else. It appeared to me that one person may not have even been aware of the issue before I asked about it.

 

How dare you pick on the Holy Roman Catholic Church........wait, you say I did that too? Carry on then, nothing to see here.

I agree it is a soccer game and it is a release for a lot of people. There are some things to be mindful of when choosing who you do business with but in the end I care more about going to the game then I do about the promos they do.

 

In many states (PA included), you can be fired for being homosexual. CFA has supported any changes to the laws that allow this.

 

Same here. I'd rather be able to leave my social beliefs at home when I go see a game, but I can't with a promotion like this going on.

Source? I realize that PA is an at-will state, but I don't see any recent changes to laws dealing with this.

 

That was my belief as well that you can get fired at anytime just not for discriminatory reasons.

 

the law:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3017

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_Non-Discrimination_Act

this has been introduced many times and CFA has supported the opposition.

At-will has some limitations, like

Statutory exceptions

Although all U.S. states have a number of statutory protections for employees, most wrongful termination suits brought under statutory causes of action use the federal anti-discrimination statutes which prohibit firing or refusing to hire an employee because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap status. Other reasons an employer may not use to fire an at-will employee are:

• for refusing to commit illegal acts – An employer is not permitted to fire an employee because the employee refuses to commit an act that is illegal.
• family or medical leave – federal law permits most employees to take a leave of absence for specific family or medical problems. An employer is not permitted to fire an employee who takes family or medical leave for a reason outlined in the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• not following own termination procedures – often, the employee handbook or company policy outlines a procedure that must be followed before an employee is terminated. If the employer fires an employee without following this procedure, the employee may have a claim for wrongful termination.

Examples of federal statutes include:

• Equal Pay Act of 1963 (relating to discrimination on the basis of sex in payment of wages);
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (relating to discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin);
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (relating to certain discrimination on the basis of age with respect to persons of at least 40 years of age);
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (related to certain discrimination on the basis of handicap status);
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (relating to certain discrimination on the basis of handicap status).
• The National Labor Relations Act provides protection to employees who wish to join or form a union and those who engage in union activity. The act also protects employees who engage in a "concerted activity".[27] Most employers set forth their workplace rules and policies in an employee handbook. A common provision in those handbooks is a statement that employment with the employer is "at-will." In 2012, the National Labor Relations Board, the federal administrative agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), instituted two cases attacking at-will employment disclaimers in employee handbooks. The NLRB challenged broadly worded disclaimers, alleging that the statements improperly suggested that employees could not act concertedly to attempt to change the at-will nature of their employment, and thereby interfered with employees’ protected rights under the NLRA.[28]
• In 2012, Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board, located in Arizona, attempted[clarification needed] to outlaw the practice of including at-will employment disclaimers in employee handbooks by finding such at-will provisions unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act. Arizona Region 28 case - American Red Cross Arizona and Lois Hampton addressed the Unlawful waiver of NLRB rights and a second case, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Unite Here International Union, addressed the Settlement of claims. [29]
• In addition to being fired based on status in a protected class (e.g., race, gender, etc.), employers are not allowed to retaliate against any protected action. "Protected actions" include suing for wrongful termination, testifying as a witness in a wrongful termination case, or even opposing what they believe, whether they can prove it or not, to be wrongful discrimination.[30] In the recent federal case of Ross v. Vanguard, Raymond Ross successfully sued his employer for firing him due to his allegations of racial discrimination.[31]

 

Don't forget, it's also '80's Theme Night!

 

Yours is too. Employment is always at-will unless an employee is covered under collective bargaining or has signed some sort of contract.

If you went to work for the Union FO and Sack discovered that you were homosexual, he could fire you simply for being gay because there are no laws on the books preventing him from doing so, at least as a private company. NJ and some other states have laws preventing an employer from doing this, but an employee still has to prove discrimination, so good luck with that.

Of course, the fact that CFA serves crappy food and pays its employees less than a living wage is a non-issue.

 

Is it even remotely possible to go to a soccer game, which is an entertainment, without someone trying to ruin the experience with political rantings? The last thing I need is someone getting political with me at PPL Park when I just simply want to grab a beer, eat some Crab Fries, watch Union win (or lose in mediocre fashion), and walk away with a smile. I have enough political crap to deal with on a daily basis.

 

That's an important distinction. While I would participate in a protest in Toyota plaza, once I'm in the stadium, it's all about blue and gold.

 

'I promised myself I wasn't gonna do this'

 

If you drive this, you are aces in my book.

 

Crappy food is subjective. I think CFA serves a pretty good product, especially compared to their competitors. As for a living wage, what's that even mean? We're talking about a group of people who are mostly part-time students or those looking for second jobs. You could make the same wage argument about MLS and any number of other companies associated with MLS, Bimbo included.

 

I can't do anything more than extrapolate based on what I see, just like you. When I go to CFA, I see four categories of workers, obvious students, a couple of older retired aged people, a full time manager or two, and the franchisee. I've also worked in retail and fast food. Most of my coworkers were in school. In retail, there were more of the working poor types. We also aren't talking about skilled work here.

Aside from that, the wage issue is meaningless to the discussion because CFA pays what its competitors and those with whom they compete for employees pay, minimum wage to start. It would not surprise me, based on the people I see working at the Bimbo plants locally, that they make much more than minimum wage. If they do, great, but it won't be by much.

 

Come on, you know what "living wage" means. It's being paid at a level that allows you to meet your basic subsistence needs for an extended period of time. As for whether MLS players are underpaid, that's a subjective question. Even a player in MLS at the league minimum still gets healthcare and a guaranteed contract, far better than working at CFA.

I recognize that CFA is no different than, say, Wal-Mart in that regard, but should that really let them off the hook?

Poverty line is generally a pretty good indicator, yes.

 

I think wage is a distraction to be honest, so yes on this CFA should be let off the hook. Again, this is not skilled work and usually a part time job. If wage was a real issue, then why not take the Union to task for the salary of interns or the wages paid to the concession workers at PPL? The wage is a problem when people do not like the company. No one seems upset that you aren't getting rich at Target or Starbucks either. I also personally take issue with the term living wage. We could declare today that the minimum wage is $28/hour and in short order that would no longer be a living wage as it drives the cost of everything from a gallon of milk to the cost of rents up. An unfortunate reality of life, and I write this as someone who worked my way from $15k a year to six figures, is that there are always going to be poor people.

 

I guess we went from discrimination to legalese to wages all in the name of hating Chick Fil-A. Quite disingenuous. I guess that mean we need to protest everything then. Wal Mart, shut it down. Target, shut it down. Mickey D's, shut it down. Starbucks, shut it down. Let's shut them all down. Workers Unite! Let's shut down the Union while we are at it.

 

I would point out to you that the wealth gap between the rich and poor in this country has never been higher since the Gilded Age, that the minimum wage has not even kept up with inflation (nevermind with the growth in productivity), that social mobility is lower than ever, that government policy favors the wealthy, and that the rich are now richer than ever, but I suspect it would fall on deaf ears. I am glad you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps. Furthermore, I would like to see all the organizations you mentioned pay their employees more and also see all of their workers represented by collective bargaining. But this thread is about CFA, not those other organizations. With absolutely no disrespect intended to LGBT individuals, I find myself wondering why these issues that affect a small minority are so front and center when issues such as worker pay affect all employees are not. I suppose most people just feel that the situation is hopeless on that front. That being said, CFA's anti-LGBT political actions are disgusting and should be condemned.

 

I was with you right up until the end!!! If you shut the Union down then we wouldn't be on Big Soccer discussing things like this and my job would be a lot more boring (probably more productive but that is besides the point).

 

Someone mentioned the concession stand workers at PPL park, those have already been talked about in the tax and chester thread and how is disingenuous of the state, city and the Union to act like making the stadium would get anyone a job when they only jobs are those people that sell us the beer etc and they are only there a handful of days per year for a few hours. so they have a job for 17 days for 3 hours. that sucks since Chester has sh*t for you otherwise.

But EFF them all, i just want to be entertained and not worry about anyone else while drinking my beer and eating my pretzel.

Just to completely derail the thread!