The SF Standard published a great story last weekend about a business started more than 40 years ago in Berkeley, CA. Urban Ore is a warehouse space for the sale of salvaged, donated items which was started with motto “To End the Age of Waste.” Here’s a recent post on their Instagram page.
Founder Daniel Knapp launched Urban Ore in 1980 with the green goal of keeping reusable items out of Berkeley’s landfill. His wife Mary Lou Van Deventer later became co-owner. Urban Ore had kept going over the decades and, unlike many businesses, it did pretty well during the pandemic. But it also brought in a new breed of young workers who were quickly dissatisfied with the working conditions. They decided to form a union.
Workers formed a union in 2023 through the Industrial Workers of the World, citing issues including understaffing, unequal treatment, and retaliation….
