Submitted on Sun, 04/30/2006 - 9:20pm
Join Us: 5:30 AM till afternoon MAYDAY Morning Picket line (5/1) On Gardner between Metropolitan & Meadow in Greenpoint. L train to Grand St. walk east on Grand over bridge and right on Gardner. Contact Tomer at 646-753-1167 if you can make it.
Or Jam Up The phone Lines! call 718-821-3388 or fax 718-497-9550 demand a fair election, an end to violations of minimum wage and overtime laws, and respect from the boss. www.iww.org/en/node/2396.
Recent Developments
On April 28th Workers at Amersino voted whether to join the Industrial Workers of the World. 35 people voted and 20 votes are contested. Throughout April, the boss made threats to fire the workers and close the wharehouse. He bribed workers to not vote for the union. After weeks of this anti-union activity the boss unsurprisingly manipulated the election. Several of the votes were taken from managers or workers that do not work at that location. Also, around 10 pro-union worker's votes were withheld on the account that the boss claims they do not work at that location.
Submitted on Wed, 04/19/2006 - 11:09am
Staff Report - Industrial Worker, May 2006
On March 20 at 5:30 a.m. workers at Amersino, a produce distribution warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., met in a deli to sign IWW membership cards and prepare to stand up to an abusive boss. On that chilly Monday morning close to 20 Latino workers along with a diverse IWW contingent - including workers from Handyfat, Starbucks and Mayday books - marched on the boss demanding the immediate reinstatement of fired workers, an end to violations of minimum wage and overtime laws, and respect from the boss.
As the boss drove up in his new Mercedes Benz, workers marched with bikes in hand ready to demand justice. The showdown between the workers and their boss is just one example of the class conflict that exists in New York City. The workers organized to end the harsh treatment from the boss who would yell racist remarks at workers while paying them far below what they earned. Meanwhile the boss used the money he was stealing to build a collection of trucks he is using for his long haul operations and other business endeavors.
Submitted on Thu, 03/09/2006 - 11:48am
March 9, 2006, 1:55 AM EST - AP New York; reposted from Newsday.
SEATTLE (AP) _ A union that sought to represent Starbucks Corp. baristas at three Manhattan coffeehouses says it will ramp up its organizing efforts now that the company has settled an unfair labor practice complaint.
A branch of the Industrial Workers of the World that calls itself IWW Starbucks Workers Union characterized Tuesday's settlement as a victory for union organizing. Among other things, it requires Starbucks to post notices at the three stores named in the complaint stating that employees have the right to join a union.
Submitted on Wed, 03/08/2006 - 7:41pm
Coffee Giant Must Rehire Fired Baristas and Rescind National Anti-Union Policies - from www.starbucksunion.org, March 8, 2006.New York, NY- The IWW Starbucks Workers Union won a watershed victory yesterday in the first National Labor Relations Board conflict over unfair labor practices between the world's largest coffee chain and the baristas who work there. Faced with the prospect of having its widespread union-busting campaign exposed in a public hearing, Starbucks agreed to remedy all of the myriad violations committed against workers who have organized a union.
"We hope Starbucks' decision to settle reflects a strategic assessment to cease what has been a relentless anti-union campaign and accept the right of baristas to gain a voice on the job by joining together," said Laura De Anda, one of the union members that prevailed in the proceedings. "The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is here to stay."
Submitted on Tue, 03/07/2006 - 12:54pm
By Harry Harrington - Industrial Worker, March 2006
Shocking city and state politicians, the corporate world and their bosses at the MTA, New York City transit workers rejected their proposed contract after a three-day strike. The vote was close; of 22,461 total votes cast, 11,227 Transit Workers Union members voted to ratify the contract, and 11,234 voted against – a difference of only seven votes.
This was a significant defeat for Transport Workers Union local president Roger Toussaint. The Toussaint leadership spent $70,000 on a public relations firm to promote the contract while the Vote No Coalition/Transit Workers for a Just Contract (TWJC) spent less than $3,000 collected from the membership. The union inundated members with daily e-mails, phone calls and advertisements, and held borough-wide meetings to explain the contract, but these were an abysmal failure as he met widespread opposition to what the membership regarded as costly givebacks.