Submitted on Sat, 07/01/2006 - 12:46am
UNION SPILLS THE BEANS By Robert Proudfoot - June 21, 2006,
New York Press (
http://www.nypress.com/19/25/informationagent/agent4.cfm)
Last Friday at 2:45 p.m., Starbucks employees working at the 135 E. 57th St. store (between Lexington and Park Ave.) made public their Industrial Workers of the World union membership and presented a list of demands to management to improve working conditions.
The Starbucks Workers Union members “marched into the store to announce their membership in the IWW,” said Daniel Gross, Starbucks Workers Union organizer and Starbucks barista. Gross said the three main demands are: a living wage, secure hours of 30 or more per week and an end to the anti-union campaign. While the demands were being presented, customers were not being served.
Submitted on Thu, 06/22/2006 - 2:32pm
Radical bookstore opening in Out ch'Yonda at 929 4th St SW. Albuquerque, New Mexico Libre-ría “La Semilla” --- books, zines, posters, music, maté, art, shirts, coffee, films, music and more . Our focus is on: people of color, radical childrens & young adult books, queer theory, feminism, resistance movements, gay and lesbian, new mexican resistance movements, appropriate technology, political prisoners, magonismo, spanish language radical literature, workers' stories, Xicano movement, working class history, african american history, local poets, anarchism, local writers and artists, radical thought and history, zapatismo, indigenous history and struggles, socialism, ecological struggles, zines, punk rock, hip hop, anti war, and anti imperialist materials.
The bookstore will also provide a meeting and office space for the IWW, which is providing a mountain of books to the collective to start up.
Submitted on Sun, 06/18/2006 - 3:30am
At 2:45 on Friday, June 16th a delegation of the IWW Starbucks workers union entered Starbucks at 57th and Lexington.
Workers on the shop floor put on their IWW union pins and let the company know that they too were members of the Starbucks Workers union. Workers stopped working as they presented theirdemands to their store manager Patrice Britton.
The Store manager refused to take the list of demands and ordered everyone back to work. Workers spoke out and let the manager and customers know their concerns. Meanwhile several wobblies were passing out leaflets outside letting customers know what was happening inside.
There was chaos on the floor where the manager was telling workers to get back to work meanwhile customers were asking what was happening and why they weren't being served. There was shouting and arguing.
Submitted on Sat, 06/17/2006 - 1:59am
Reuters - By Abha Bhattarai, June 16, 2006
Starbucks Corp. may be next on the target list of a consumer-health group that this week sued the operator of the KFC fried chicken restaurant chain for frying foods in oils high in harmful trans fat.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said it is planning to campaign against the global cafe chain because of the increased risk of obesity, heart disease and cancer associated with high-calorie, high-fat products it sells.
And the possibility of legal action against Starbucks, similar to the case it is taking against KFC owner Yum Brands Inc., has not been ruled out, said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson.
Submitted on Sat, 06/10/2006 - 12:17am
Summer Beverage Line Features Drinks With More Calories Than a Big Mac
New York, NY- The IWW Starbucks Workers Union urged its members today to exercise serious caution when consuming Starbucks products because of the increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses associated with diet and obesity. The union made the announcement after concluding that according to Starbucks' own nutritional data, the summer line of beverages continues the coffee giant's propensity for drinks high in calories, saturated fat, and sugar.
"The summer line is more of the same junk food from Starbucks," said Michael F. Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). "Regular consumers of Starbucks products could face Venti-sized health problems. If Starbucks cared about its customers' health, it would at least list on the menu board the calorie content of its offerings."