Submitted on Sat, 11/26/2005 - 4:12pm
Reposted from New York Newsday - November 26, 2005
NEW YORK -- 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.
Submitted on Wed, 11/23/2005 - 3:45pm
Baristas Demand Guaranteed Work Hours
November 18, 2005
New York, NY - 25 Starbucks baristas and supporters wearing union pins and hats surrounded the store manager at the Union Square location in Manhattan tonight to announce their membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (www.starbucksunion.org). The workers, joined by union baristas from two other New York Starbucks stores, demanded a guaranteed minimum of 30 hours of work per week and an end to Starbucks' unlawful anti-union campaign. The Union will assail Starbucks with a wide array of actions until the demands are met.
One of the workers, 23 year-old Tomer Malchi, served the store manager with a document detailing the demands and several other workers directed comments at the boss to be relayed to more senior management. Suley Ayala, a mother of four who has worked at Starbucks for three years, was one of the workers who spoke. She explained after the event: "it should go without saying that we can't live on ten, eleven, or twelve hours of work some weeks. The 30 hour guarantee is absolutely necessary to make ends meet and Starbucks knows it."
Submitted on Wed, 11/23/2005 - 6:08am
(As reported by Labourstart)- FIRST STARBUCKS STRIKE IN THE WORLD
It was bound to happen eventually -- and it happened today in New Zealand. Low-paid Starbucks workers walked off the job and formed a picket line. They were joined by workers from other low paid, fast-food restaurants such as KFC and Pizza Hut.
Starbucks, which tries to project an image as a caring, progressive, company, has some 80,000 employees worldwide. It pays those workers minimum wage or only slightly above, and generally does not welcome unions.
As you'd expect, LabourStart is covering the New Zealand Starbucks strike (see here: http://www.labourstart.tv).
If you've never seen a picket line at a Starbucks (and chances are, you haven't), have a look!
For more information about union efforts to organize Starbucks worldwide, check out http://www.supersizemypay.com/ and http://www.starbucksunion.org/
Submitted on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 11:12pm
It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to another courageous Colombian union leader and worker, Luciano Enrique Romero Molina. Starbucks workers have always felt a kinship with the food and beverage workers of SINALTRAINAL which was solidified in a 2004 meeting between SINALTRAINAL leader Juan Carlos Galvis and Starbucks Union member Daniel Gross where the two exchanged mutual pledges of solidarity. The assassination of Mr. Romero is a time for mourning yes, but even more so, it's a time to act and to organize. Please read SINALTRAINAL's statement on the killing which follows below and write the letters they suggest:
SINALTRAINAL LEADER LUCIANO ENRIQUE ROMERO MOLINA ASSASSINATED
It is with deep pain that we inform you of the death of comrade LUCIANO ENRIQUE ROMERO MOLINA, a leader of SINALTRANAL who was assassinated in the city of Valledupar, Cesar. Luciano was seen alive at approximately 9pm on 10 September, then on the morning of 11 September his dead body was found tied up, tortured and with 40 knife wounds. He was living under the PROTECTIVE MEASURES scheme of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission of the Organisation of American States.
Submitted on Fri, 08/19/2005 - 12:47am
The first line of Starbucks Coffee Company's mission statement says "to provide a great work environment & treat each other with respect & dignity." Recently Starbucks barista Sarah Bender was fired for attempting to improve the work environment that the company claims to already be providing.
She was fired for union organizing. And when Sarah Bender, numerous IWW co-workers & supporters picketed the Starbucks at Cooper Union recently, they had to confront numerous hecklers, members of Billionaires for Bush, who could not sip their lattes idly but instead, recognized Starbucks for its outstanding performance in union-busting and its continuing commitment to pay its baristas unlivable wages.
Read More: http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/369