Submitted on Sun, 12/11/2005 - 4:47am
By Philip Dawdy - Seattle Weekly, December 5, 2005
In a first for Starbucks, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charged the company with violations of federal law on Nov. 18 in response to complaints filed by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which has waged a yearlong campaign to unionize three coffee shops in New York. In the filing, the NLRB asserted that the 10,500-store Seattle-based chain violated the National Labor Relations Act by engaging in unfair labor practices, specifically citing instances of employees being fired for union activity and Starbucks managers conducting surveillance of and questioning employees about union activities, among other claims.
Submitted on Wed, 11/30/2005 - 5:38am
Walkout by employees at 10 stores linked to employee exploitation by fast food chains around the world Auckland - Workers at Starbucks shops across Auckland have walked off the job in the world’s first strike against the global coffee chain.
What began as a small protest at one store became a city-wide strike when Starbucks workers learned that managers were being brought in to cover the shifts of striking workers.
Simon Oosterman of
supersizemypay.com, the campaign coordinator, said Starbucks' handling of the situation managed to turn an event highlighting "the poor conditions of low pay and minimum wage workers" at one location into "a show of solidarity and strength" by employees across the city.
Submitted on Sun, 11/27/2005 - 5:40am
BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS, STAFF WRITER - New York Newsday, November 26, 2005, 6:55 PM EST
Russ Allen considers himself a Starbucks fan, buying a cup o' joe every day from the ubiquitous coffee haven. He also considers himself a smart businessman.
So, true to form, he wasn't taking sides Saturday on whether or not Starbucks workers should unionize. Instead, he looked at it as an opportunity to watch free enterprise in action.
Submitted on Sat, 11/26/2005 - 4:24pm
By ANTHONY RAMIREZ - New York Times, Published: November 26, 2005
The conflict between the Starbucks coffee chain and workers wanting to form a citywide union played out on two fronts yesterday: organizers formed a picket line in front of a local Starbucks, and a hearing was announced for next year before the National Labor Relations Board.
Chanting, "No latte, no peace," as a union organizer dressed as a giant latte rocked back and forth, about 20 demonstrators picketed a Starbucks at Union Square.
They urged a guarantee of a 30-hour work week, to ensure that workers would qualify for health benefits, and they demanded an end to what they called union busting by Starbucks.
So far, the union, the Industrial Workers of the World, has organized three Starbucks coffee shops in New York City. Starbucks has more than 200 outlets within 10 miles of downtown Manhattan, and nearly 6,900 in the United States.
The labor relations board, the agency that oversees workers' right to bargain collectively, said a hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 7 in Manhattan. At that session, union organizers and Starbucks officials will appear before an administrative law judge for a review of the union's allegations about the chain's practices.
Submitted on Sat, 11/26/2005 - 4:21pm
BY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - November 26, 2005, 11:39 AM EST
Labor organizers formed a picket line in front of a Starbucks at Union Square on Friday in an ongoing bid to push the ubiquitous coffee chain to recognize a citywide union of its workers.
About 20 picketers sang, used air horns and chanted "No latte, no peace," while urging passers-by to boycott the shop. One demonstrator dressed as a giant latte.
Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board said it will hold a hearing on Feb. 7 in Manhattan to review allegations leveled against the Seattle-based company by the union, the Industrial Workers of the World.
The union, which has organized three of New York's Starbucks coffee shops, wants the company to guarantee 30-hour work weeks to its employees so they can get health benefits and says Starbucks has illegally resisted its workers'attempts to organize, the New York Times reported in its Saturday editions.