General Distribution Workers Industrial Union 660

Contacts:

Aaron Kocher, SWU organizer, Franklin and Nicollet Starbucks: 612-220-6454

Brendan O'Donnell, IWW member at large: 612-306-7517

Erik Forman, SWU organizer, Mall of America Starbucks: 608-695-8705

Press Conferece: 11am November 13, corner of Franklin and Nicollet

Minneapolis, MN- Baristas from the Starbucks Coffee located at the intersection of Nicollet and Franklin Avenues in Minneapolis walked off the floor Wednesday morning to present a petition to management, signed by more than 500 concerned customers and community members, demanding Starbucks hire a security guard to ensure the safety of its patrons and partners.  The workers in turn declared their affiliation with the Starbucks Workers Union, a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, becoming the first Starbucks in Minneapolis, and the second in Minnesota, to go union.

A press conference will be held Thursday, November 13, at 11 am, in front of the Franklin and Nicollet Starbucks to celebrate the solidarity of the workers and demand that Starbucks hire a security guard.

Initially, the store partners circulated an internal petition, compiling signatures from most of the store's employees, requesting a meeting to discuss the security situation.  After receiving no productive response from either the store or district manager, the employees turned to the

customers to prove their point.

"We hoped management would recognize the need to discuss these concerns with us, but when they refused to even hold a meeting, we knew more action was needed," said Aaron Kocher, a current store employee.  "We can't work when we are constantly being harassed, threatened, and intimidated, or trying to protect our customers from the same mistreatment," he said.

Contact: starbucksunion (at) yahoo.com

October 27, 2008

Starbucks Management Conference in New Orleans Hit with Unexpected Union Protest

Supporters of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union Took the Streets in an Energetic Display of Solidarity

New Orleans, LA- Starbucks Coffee Co.'s first national conference for managers held outside of Seattle and the first since the return of Howard Schultz as CEO, was rocked by a determined pro-worker demonstration here yesterday.  In the midst of a worsening economic crisis, New Orleans residents rose up to demand respect for the work of Starbucks baristas and coffee farmers who are bearing the brunt of the downturn while company executives continue to rake in millions of dollars.

By LAUREN SHEPHERD - NEW YORK (AP) - Starbucks Corp. is facing another complaint from the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the gourmet coffee chain engaged in unfair labor practices by firing a barista in Michigan.

The complaint, filed last month by the Detroit office of the NLRB, stems from an investigation into a charge made by employee Cole Dorsey earlier this year.

According to the NLRB complaint, Dorsey--a member of the Industrial Workers of the World union at Starbucks--was fired June 6 from his job at a store in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before being fired, Dorsey had been given two prior disciplinary warnings by his store manager.

The complaint alleges that Dorsey received the warnings and was fired because of his "sympathies for and activities on behalf of" the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. The union has been attempting to organize workers at the chain.

New York, NY- The Starbucks Coffee Co. is in the process of an extreme revamping of its workforce policies according to company documents obtained by the Starbucks Workers Union of the Industrial Workers of the World.  The initiative, dubbed "Optimal Scheduling", will require employees to make themselves available to work essentially around the clock to obtain so-called full-time status.  Even for workers able to make the extraordinary sacrifice to obtain "full-time" status, no work hours are guaranteed- identical to Starbucks' current system of part-time status for all retail hourly workers.  In addition, Starbucks will lay off workers who cannot meet minimum availability requirements.  As baristas learn of the new program, discontent is rising.

"I've had to make myself available each week from Tuesday to Sunday starting at 4:45am until 11pm in the hopes of possibly getting 32 hours of work but not being guaranteed a single hour," said Liberte Locke, a Starbucks barista in New York and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.  "It's impossible for me to get a second job now even though I need one and impossible to have a life outside of work."

Under the new system, baristas who opt for pseudo full-time status have to make themselves available to work 70% of the total hours their store is open during the week.  In an example given in the company documents, a store open 115 hours per week requires a barista to be available to work 80.5 hours each week - over double the standard work week.  Week-to-week Starbucks can then schedule workers anywhere within that availability.  In addition, workers who cannot make themselves available for at least three shifts a week will be fired, absent a "compelling reason" which Starbucks has not defined.  Weekend workers must be available for at least 16 hours to avoid termination.

By Julie Forster - jforster [at] pioneerpress.com