Submitted on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 2:04pm
Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured below and to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.
By Damon Agnos - Seattle Weekly, Monday, May. 4 2009
The National Labor Relations Board laid the smack down on the wrist of Starbucks last week,
siding with union organizers in finding that the coffee giant engaged
in unfair labor practices at eight Minneapolis-area stores. The union
said that Starbucks kicked visiting organizers out of their stores and
told them they couldn't talk about the union, and also retaliated via
disciplinary measures against employees who tried to organize.
The
NLRB proposed a settlement, which Starbucks can accept or decline and
then face a formal complaint before an administrative law judge. But
the real kick is the employees' union. When I heard Starbucks employees
were organizing, I automatically thought it would be under the umbrella
of the SEIU, the fast-growing, aggressive, powerful union of service
industry employees (local branches of which recently protested in front of the First Hill Bank of America).
Instead, though, the Starbucks Workers Union is organized under the
Industrial Workers of the World (aka the Wobblies), the international
union that was a powerhouse in the early 20th century, opposing World
War I, calling general strikes, and facing violent repression from
business groups and government. (A particularly notable episode
occurred in Centralia.)
Those who keep close tabs on labor (or coffee) news probably know that
the IWW has been organizing in Starbucks and elsewhere, but for the
casual observer, it's a trip to see their name in the news.
Submitted on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 11:33pm
17-count Charge Latest in a String of Setbacks for Brand
Minneapolis -- The Starbucks Workers Union announced today that the National Labor Relations Board has found merit with 17 counts of labor rights violations at Starbucks in Minneapolis/St. Paul. The fresh charges come on the heels of a "guilty" verdict in New York Federal Court on nearly 30 similar charges last December. Once seen as a paragon of social responsibility and entrepreneurial innovation, the coffee giant's image has recently been tarnished with mounting evidence of rampant labor violations, on top of sliding profits, increased market competition, and declining consumer demand.
Mall of America Starbucks barista Erik Forman commented, "Since the recession began, Starbucks has been slashing benefits, laying off workers, reducing hours, and increasing the workload on Baristas in a quixotic effort to maintain boom-era profitability. As our standard of living comes under attack, the need for a union has never been greater. Starbucks must respect our right to association."
Submitted on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 11:26pm
By Adam Turl - Socialist Worker, April 17, 2009
Disclaimer: The International Socilaist Organization is not affiliated with the IWW or vice versa.
WHEN BANK of America hosted a conference call to discuss how to
defeat the Employee Free Choice Act, one executive used a new
formulation: "the Starbucks problem."
His worry: workers might follow the example of Starbucks baristas
and form their own unions without waiting for bigger "traditional"
unions to organize them.
In the past five years, the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU)--a part of
the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)--has spread from one
Manhattan store to win hundreds of members in New York City,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Chicago and beyond.
The SWU has made inroads among a section of the workforce--low-wage
retail workers--that many unions have written off as too difficult to
organize. Indeed, organized labor represents just 5 percent of workers
in retail.
Since its formation, the SWU has won a series of important National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings and achieved gains for baristas on
the job. Given the dire straits workers face today, if Corporate
America is worried about the "Starbucks problem," then union members
and supporters should take a close look at the SWU.
Submitted on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 10:01am
Clowning the Boss
By FW double jeff
Monday, February 16th The New York branch of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union held an energetic eight-hour picket outside two separate Starbucks locations. Originally planned as a “loose informal picket” outside the Union Square East Starbucks location, managerial stupidity and increased union-busting activity on the part of Starbucks turned it into a media circus and all night protest. Between the time when the picket was planned and when it actually took place, Starbucks decided to fire yet another union barista, Sharon Bell, from the 17th and Broadway location, conveniently located across the park from Union Square East.
The picket was called to protest the recent wave of Starbucks layoffs and draw attention to the refusal of Starbucks to pay severance, in spite of claiming in several press releases to the media that they will be providing severance pay to all laid off workers. The message was expanded to include the demand for the reinstatement of Sharon Bell and an immediate end to the illegal, unethical, nationally coordinated union-busting operations of Starbucks Coffee.
Submitted on Fri, 03/20/2009 - 4:35pm
Chicago, IL (03-19-2009)- The Starbucks Coffee Co. informed outspoken union
member and barista, Joe Tessone, yesterday that it was laying him off, just two
weeks after he confronted CEO Howard Schultz over the company's squeezing of
employees. Mr. Tessone's blog post on the encounter entitled, "Howard the
Coward: The Day My Boss Ran Away" quickly became an Internet hit among fast food
workers and their supporters (online at:
http://www.iww.org/en/node/4618).
"When I heard Howard Schultz was in town, I knew had to get to the store
and make my voice heard as a barista and union member," said Tessone, a 4-year
veteran of the company with an excellent performance record. "He said he'd speak
to me after his interview with the Wall Street Journal only to scurry through
the emergency exit the first chance he got. I told Schultz that it was time to
dialogue with union baristas and that too many of us we're living in poverty but
he showed nothing but cowardice."
Shortly after his exchange with Schultz, Tessone was ordered into a
one-on-one meeting with a Starbucks Regional Director rather than the store
manager who would normally administer discipline. The director warned Tessone
that he was out of compliance with Starbucks' new "Optimal Scheduling" policy
which pries open baristas' availability to work without guaranteeing any work
hours. The problem with the director's rationale: Tessone's availability was
indeed in complete compliance with Optimal Scheduling requirements which are
laid out in a written policy. The same rationale was erroneously deployed by
Tessone's store manager yesterday when he was laid off.
