Submitted on Wed, 11/15/2006 - 4:35am
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
By Daniel Goldin - Huffington Post, November 14, 2006.
A few days after putting up my post "Starbucks and the White Whale" -- a reflection on Starbucks' ambition to become a cultural taste-maker -- I received an email from Daniel Gross, a Starbucks union-organizer in New York, pointing out some facts I had got wrong. I had said that "most of Starbucks' employees work part-time." In fact, all of Starbucks' retail employees work part-time (the company includes management in its statistics), with no guarantee even of the twenty hours needed to stay on the company's part-time worker health plan.
Submitted on Sat, 11/11/2006 - 12:28am
BBC News
Coffee giant Starbucks has been fined £12,000 after one of its branches was found to be infested with mice.
Mouse droppings were found next to spoons, knives and cups at the Charing Cross branch in London, City of Westminster magistrates heard.
The court heard an environmental health officer was hit by a "strong smell of mice" and recurring scenes of filth, mice droppings and stainings.
The chain pleaded guilty to four counts of food safety and hygiene breaches.
Management failures
Westminster City Council decided to prosecute after inspecting the state of two storerooms and a serving area at the cafe in Villiers Street in the West End.
Submitted on Thu, 11/02/2006 - 3:12am
Sister Worker Isis Saenz was fired today by Starbucks for participating in a protest Thursday evening against the company's union-busting [http://starbucksunion.org/node/1094].
The company claims that Isis acted inappropriately towards Regional Director Jim McDermott at the protest. Isis's principled stand for the right to join a union free of coercion apparently didn't comport with Starbucks' "guiding principles"
As in the case of Daniel Gross, Starbucks has fired an IWW barista for engaging in a union protest. Clearly, Starbucks is attacking the heart of the SWU's Direct Action strategy.
Submitted on Wed, 11/01/2006 - 2:36pm
Resolution on the IWW Starbucks Workers UnionPassed, October 30, 2006, at the TAA General Membership Meeting, Madison, WI
WHEREAS Starbucks baristas have built an organizational presence at seven Starbucks Coffee locations in New York City and Chicago; and
WHEREAS the Starbucks Coffee Company has maintained a virulent practice of illegal, unjust, and anti-union campaigning, resulting in an order of the National Labor Relations Board that Starbucks reinstate workers who were unlawfully fired and cease and desist from interfering with workers’ rights to organize; and
WHEREAS Starbucks has continued to interfere with its workers’ rights, by firing four more workers in New York City for protected, legal union activity; therefore be it
Submitted on Fri, 10/27/2006 - 9:32pm
New York, NY- Holding picket signs and handing out Howard Schultz “Most Wanted” flyers, union baristas and supporters protested the visit of the Starbucks Chairman to promote the coffee chain's first bookselling venture. Two campaign supporters entered the Park Avenue store where one of 25 promotional events around the country took place and unfurled a "Stop Union-Busting" banner. The two campaigners were forcibly removed by a Starbucks Regional Director. The baristas crashed the event to demand an end to the relentless anti-union campaign overseen by Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz who opted not to attend.
“Four IWW members are currently out of a job because of Howard Schultz’s animosity towards unions,” said Isis Saenz, a New York barista and IWW member. “Schultz is a billionaire and just made the list of the world’s richest people. What more does he want?”
While Starbucks is set to profit handsomely from its expansion into bookselling, baristas continue to languish in poverty with fluctuating work hours each week. Starbucks has fallen far short of the socially responsible image it seeks to create. Despite referring to itself as a leader in employee health care, the coffee giant insures a lower percentage of its workforce than Wal-Mart.
Starbucks has waged a fierce anti-union campaign against baristas joining the Industrial Workers of the World to gain an independent voice at work. The company agreed to refrain from spying, bribing, threatening, and terminating workers in a March settlement with the U.S. government triggered by charges from the IWW Starbucks Workers Union [www.StarbucksUnion.org]. However, Starbucks has continued union-busting with impunity including terminating workers for exercising their right to join the union.
Despite the unlawful anti-union campaign, baristas have won wage increases, more secure scheduling, and safety improvements through direct action on the job and in the community. The union currently has an organized presence at seven Starbucks locations in New York City and Chicago.
