Submitted on Wed, 08/16/2006 - 3:08pm
Just saw this on Gawker today, complete with video.
Link "OK, so maybe Shake Shack has no vermin problem, but the Starbucks on 2nd Avenue and 9th Street? Or 57th Street and Park Avenue? Not so fortunate. Employees protested this morning against the multitudinous infestations of rats and roaches, shown here lovingly in both photo and video (rats dead, roaches very much alive). Would you like some cucaracha with that biscotti?"
Submitted on Tue, 08/15/2006 - 12:47pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 14, 2006
Contact:
Heidi Boghosian, NLG Executive Director, 212-679-5100, ext. 11
Michael Avery, NLG President, 617-573-8551
NLG Supports Boycott of Starbucks Until All Fired Union Members Are Reinstated
New York, NY- The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) strongly condemns Starbucks’ retaliatory firing of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) organizer and NLG member Daniel Gross. Mr. Gross was fired after an investigation into his participation at a union rally in support of another IWW barista, Evan Winterscheidt. While Starbucks contends that Gross engaged in threatening conduct on the picket line, multiple eyewitnesses attest that he merely asserted solidarity with Mr. Winterscheidt to a district manager walking into the store. Mr. Gross is the fourth IWW barista terminated for union activity in less than a year. In response to the continued violation of labor rights by Starbucks, the NLG calls for a boycott of the company’s products until all fired IWW baristas are reinstated.
“The Guild is proud to stand in solidarity with the IWW baristas at Starbucks in their fight for a living wage and an independent voice on the job,” said Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild. “Starbucks should ashamed to be cashing in on a socially responsible image when the company is in reality a serial violator of labor rights.”
The NLG is appalled at Starbucks’ relentless and illegal anti-union campaign. In March 2006, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union and their lead attorney, Guild member Stuart Lichten, won a major National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) case against the company, striking down several of the company’s national anti-union policies and reinstating two discharged union members. However, Starbucks has continued to break the law with impunity. The right to organize a union free of coercion is a fundamental right, enshrined in both U.S. and international law. It is imperative that Starbucks respect the right of baristas to organize and immediately call off the union-busting.
“Supporting an embattled co-worker as Daniel did is the hallmark of mutual aid and support and has been protected by law for over seventy years,” said Michael Avery, the President of the National Lawyers Guild. “The Guild looks forward to standing with Daniel and the other fired baristas as they vindicate their rights in court and on the streets.”
Despite the union-busting, the IWW baristas have pressured Starbucks to win three wage increases, a more secure schedule, and some safety improvements. The union has also taken action on the job to remedy worker grievances with the company. More information on how to support the IWW Starbucks Workers Union is available online at www.starbucksunion.org.
The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is a progressive bar association of lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers. Its national office is in New York and it has chapters in nearly every state, as well as more than 100 law school chapters. The Guild has a long history of supporting the labor movement in this country and internationally.
Submitted on Tue, 08/15/2006 - 12:01pm
Durch den Mailverteiler der IWW-Starbucks-Workers-Union mussten wir vor einigen Tagen erfahren, dass einem Mitbegründer der Gewerkschaft, Daniel Gross, nach einer schmierigen internen Untersuchung gekündigt wurde. Die Wobblies rufen deshalb zu internationalen Aktionen gegen Starbucks auf.
Die Kündigung wurde am Sonntag ausgesprochen, nachdem das Unternehmen eine sogenannte "interne Untersuchung" gegen Daniel Gross angestrengt hatte. Hintergrund ist der verstärkte Versuch des Starbucks-Managements, die GewerkschafterInnen der Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in ihren Läden auszuschalten. So wurden in den letzten Wochen mehrere IWW-Mitglieder gefeuert, was die IWW mit Blockadeaktionen und Proteststreiks in mehreren New Yorker starbucks-Filialen beantwortete. Bei einer dieser Kundgebungen hatte Daniel Gross sich mit den gekündigten solidarisiert, was ihm nun zum Verhängnis werden soll, wenn es nach den Starbucks-Bossen geht.
Submitted on Sun, 08/13/2006 - 11:45am
By Michael Canfield - Originally posted to blogging stocks on August 9, 2006
On August 7th, Starbucks (SBUX) fired Daniel Gross, a barista and organizer for IWW's Starbucks Workers Union. The Seattle P-I has that story.
The firing remains top news at the IWW's Starbucks Union website, where details began appearing as early as July 27th when decision over whether Gross would be terminated were still pending an investigation by the coffee retailer, and updates have appeared frequently the past few days.
Gross, who's a co-founder of the union, is appealing, claiming his firing is a demonstration of Starbucks anti-union stance. Starbucks is not giving its reasons for firing Gross, but say that it "doesn't discourage" union organizing.
Submitted on Sun, 08/13/2006 - 12:12am
TAKE ACTION NOW!
The Starbucks "investigation" of IWW member Daniel Gross concluded today with his termination after more than three years of organizing at the company.
Daniel's expression of solidarity at a union picket line with co-worker and fellow union member, Evan Winterscheidt, was deemed threatening by Starbucks despite multiple eyewitnesses who confirm that Daniel merely asserted to District Manager Allison Marx that Evan should not be fired. With the termination of IWW members Daniel Gross, Evan Winterscheidt, Joe Agins Jr., and Charles Fostrom in less than a year, Starbucks has demonstrated conclusively its intense hostility to the right of workers to join a union.