Submitted on Sun, 08/13/2006 - 11:45am
By Michael Canfield - Originally posted to blogging stocks on August 9, 2006
On August 7th, Starbucks (SBUX) fired Daniel Gross, a barista and organizer for IWW's Starbucks Workers Union. The Seattle P-I has that story.
The firing remains top news at the IWW's Starbucks Union website, where details began appearing as early as July 27th when decision over whether Gross would be terminated were still pending an investigation by the coffee retailer, and updates have appeared frequently the past few days.
Gross, who's a co-founder of the union, is appealing, claiming his firing is a demonstration of Starbucks anti-union stance. Starbucks is not giving its reasons for firing Gross, but say that it "doesn't discourage" union organizing.
Submitted on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 4:10am
Resolution des General Executive Board der IWW
In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass ein Mitglied der Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), der Starbucks-Angestellte Daniel Gross, an einem Protest beteiligt war, um den Job eines Kollegen im Sinne der gegenseitigen Hilfe und Solidarität zu verteidigen; und
In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass Starbucks derzeit, aufgrund seiner Beteiligung an dem besagten Protest und seiner Beteiligung an kollektiven Aktionen, eine verlogene interne "Untersuchung" anstellt; und
In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass Starbucks entscheiden wird, ob sie den Kollegen Gross nach Beendigung der "Untersuchung" feuern wollen oder nicht; und
In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass die Starbucks Workers Union der I.W.W. durch direkte Aktionen am Arbeitsplatz und Beteiligung der ArbeiterInnen in den Communities wichtige Verbesserungen in Fragen der Löhne und Arbeitsbedingungen in der weltweit größten Coffee-House-Kette erzielt hat; und
Submitted on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 3:29am
Monday 31/07/2006 - 10:06 PM
Dear (Starbucks) Chairman Howard Schultz,
As a representative of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers I am appalled that IWW member and Starbucks barista Daniel Gross is being investigated by your company and faces termination for engaging in lawful protected activity. Standing side-by-side with an embattled co-worker and fellow union member as Daniel did is the essence of the labor movement. Retaliating against Daniel for engaging in mutual aid is both immoral and illegal.
For a company that claims to be socially responsible, I am disgusted that Starbucks tramples so egregiously on the rights of its workers. Freedom of association on the job is a fundamental human right that must not be flouted with impunity as Starbucks is doing.
I demand that Starbucks does not fire Daniel Gross and respects the right of every worker to join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. I further demand that all the IWW members fired from Starbucks for union activity who have not yet been reinstated- Joe Agins Jr., Charles Fostrom, and Evan Winterscheidt- get their jobs back immediately.
In any event I am sure that our 55,000 members will want to know about your labour practices and act accordingly. I will sure to let them know should this not be resolved.
Please rectify this transparent injustice immediately.
Sincerely,
Dave Bleakney - National Union Representtaive - Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Submitted on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 2:59am
Starbucks is adamantly anti-union. Daniel Gross found that out the hard way. This weekend, Gross was fired, fellow employees say, after trying for three years to organize his fellow workers at 17th and Broadway, in Manhattan. Gross is the fourth union activist to be fired from the company this year. The workers will continue trying to organize with the IWW (yes, the Wobblies live!) and have some suggestions on how you can help support their campaign, including boycotting Starbucks until it changes its union-busting ways.
Read the entire article.
Submitted on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 2:51am
Daniel Gross, 27, has spent the last three years trying to organize his fellow Starbucks baristas into the Industrial Workers of the World ( I wrote about him last spring in New York Magazine.) He has reached some success at at least three Starbucks in Manhattan, and others elsewhere, despite vociferous opposition from management.
The overwhelmingly young members of his union are stuck, like millions of teens and 20somethings nationwide, in low-wage, mostly dead-end food service jobs with unpredictable hours and rigid codes of behavior. Some are trying to work their way through college, others have families to support; all of them have this strange idea that they deserve better conditions and prospects. They have embraced the radical socialism of the One Big Union ( the one that brought you Joe Hill and "Pie in the Sky") , now just a shadow of its former self, because of its decentralized, democratic structure and its uncompromising ethos of solidarity. “The IWW is basically a fan club for anarchists and labor geeks,” one barista told me. “But we’re making it into something real.”