Submitted on Wed, 03/31/2010 - 12:21pm
On March 19, a delegation of IWW Starbucks baristas from the Twin Cities crammed themselves into one worker's 3-cylinder Geo Metro and set off on a journey to bring the good word of solidarity unionism to baristas and workers across the lower midwest. Four days later, we returned to the Twin Cities after covering over 1,700 miles, talking to dozens of Starbucks workers about the union, and speaking to enthusiastic audiences in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Iowa City about our efforts to win decent wages, consistent scheduling, and other basic demands through workplace organizing at the world's largest coffee chain.
Our first stop was KKFI, a community radio station in Kansas City, where the Heartland Labor Forum radio show was kind enough to interview us about our organizing experiences on their show. We then made our way to the Westport Coffee House, where we held a discussion with interested community members about the issues at Starbucks, and the possibility of building a new labor movement from the ground up. We discovered that, just as in every other American city, the Kansas City working class is under attack. The Kansas City School Board recently decided to close an enormous number of schools and lay off many teachers, unionized in the American Federation of Teachers. We extend our solidarity to them and hope that workers and students can unite in defense of quality public education.
The next day, we hit the road for St. Louis, site of the first general strike in US history in 1877, as well as a giant arch, and the worker-owned and democratically-operated Black Bear Bakery. The Autonomy Alliance and local IWW members sponsored a public event at the bakery, providing us with an opportunity to share the story of our union campaign with local labor activists and workers.
Submitted on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 3:49pm
For Immediate Release:
IWW Starbucks Workers Union
Contact: StarbucksUnion (at) yahoo.com
February 11, 2010
Kati Moore Inspires Starbucks District Managers to Expose High-Level Sexual Harassment
Howard Schultz Still Silent Amid Growing Evidence of a Hostile Work Environment
New York, NY- In a risky departure from the normal chain of command, a group of Starbucks district managers have authored an impassioned letter to top executives in Seattle demanding that action be taken against a company vice president allegedly engaged in pervasive sexual harassment.
The letter, which was made available to the IWW Starbucks Workers Union, alleges that Regional Vice President Andrew Alfano has created an unsafe work environment with his behavior and is responsible for the departure of two female regional directors, among many other troubling charges.
Submitted on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 7:10pm
By Eric Griffey - Fort Worth Weekly, February 3, 2010.
In late December, a small group of Starbucks employees blocked the drive-through window at the company's coffee shop at Rosedale Street and 8th Avenue for about 20 minutes, in protest of the rising cost of their healthcare insurance, low wages, and a litany of other issues. The protest signaled that a handful of local baristas had gone public with their association with the Starbucks Workers' Union - and it meant that, for a while on that afternoon, customers had to wait even longer than usual to get a cup of gourmet coffee. coverThe protesters said they didn't intend for the store to lose any business. They saw the move as a symbolic gesture, a message to the corporate coffee giant that they are willing to go to great lengths to improve their working environment. Although the protest hardly measured up to, say, the garbage workers strike in Fort Worth in 1999, it did get the company's attention. Organizers said that the company's top brass now has the Rosedale store under a microscope and that corporate officials visit frequently.
Fort Worth is the sixth city in the U.S. and the first in Texas to associate with the Starbucks Workers Union, which was started in 2004 under the umbrella of the Industrial Workers of the World, a century-old international union that takes a kind of class warfare approach and has had success in organizing in nontraditional industries, from bicycle messengers to food co-op workers.
Michelle Cahill, the group's organizer, said that she and others have seen firsthand the declining morale of their co-workers, as the company has been forced to make changes to cope with hard times.
The unhappy baristas feel as though the company, which is perennially listed on Forbes magazine's "best companies to work for" list, has lost its way, and is becoming more like a fast food chain - concentrating more on moving product than connecting with customers. "There are people in every store in the country who feel that the company isn't what it used to be," Cahill said.
But she said the union's goals have less to do with the overall direction of the company than with mistreatment of workers. Among their demands are better and cheaper healthcare, increased wages, more hours, and better working conditions.
Submitted on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 3:30pm
For Immediate Release:
Industrial Workers of the World (NYC)
January 18, 2010
Contact: Liberte Locke, 917-693-7742
Baristas Call on Starbucks to Honor Dr. King with March and Rally
IWW demands that coffee giant pay workers the same premium it pays on other federal holidays
New York, NY- The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) branch here held a march and rally at Starbucks today to call on the corporation to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating his birth. The Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW is demanding that Starbucks pay a holiday premium to baristas who work on MLK Day just as the Seattle-based chain does for five other federal holidays.
Submitted on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 5:39pm
For Immediate Release:
IWW Starbucks Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World)
Contact: Liberte Locke, 917-693-7742
December 30, 2009
Statement of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union
Year of Legal Losses for Starbucks is Capped Off with Another Union Victory
Less than two months after a legal defeat in a high-stakes appeal, Starbucks is settling charges of further workers' rights violations committed against baristas organizing with the Industrial Workers of the World for secure work hours, affordable health care, and respect on the job.
After an independent investigation, Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board in Manhattan brought a complaint against the fast food coffee chain for illegally suspending and reprimanding a barista who stopped work to participate in a union protest; interrogating baristas about their union activity; and tearing down union flyers from company bulletin boards.