Submitted on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 4:39am
For Immediate Release:
Starbucks Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World)
Contact: Cole Dorsey- organizer IWW Starbucks Workers Union,
616-540-0243
Faced With Snowballing Legal Woes, Starbucks Settles Case Over Lawyer's
Illegal Interrogations of Union Workers
First Labor Board Settlement to Disallow Repeat-Offender
Starbucks From Denying Guilt
Grand Rapids, MI (Jan. 5, 2009)- Just days after Starbucks suffered a
decisive defeat in a lengthy Labor Board trial in New York, the embattled coffee
giant has settled a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board here over
the unlawful interrogation of baristas by a company lawyer. The Board
investigation was triggered by charges from the IWW Starbucks Workers Union that
alleged one of the company's anti-union law firms, Varnum, Riddering, Schimdt,
and Howlett, illegally interrogated baristas set to give testimony in a Michigan
Occupational Safety and Health Administration hearing. In addition to revealing
law-breaking from Starbucks' counsel, the settlement is significant as the first
where the Labor Board did not allow Starbucks to deny guilt--a sanction for
repeatedly violating the rights of baristas seeking secure work hours, a living
wage, and respect on the job. The company is still set to stand trial on
Wednesday in Grand Rapids on a separate count of illegally firing outspoken union barista, Cole
Dorsey.
Submitted on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 4:32am
Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.
By Moira Herbst - BusinessWeek, December 31, 2008
Starbucks (SBUX),
once the undisputed leader in premium-price caffeine fixes, has long
cultivated a corporate image for social responsibility, environmental
awareness, and sensitivity to workers' rights. Now that carefully
crafted reputation is under assault, thanks to a messy legal dispute
with a group called the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) (part of the
Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW), which started recruiting
employees in 2004 and now claims 300 members.
The National Labor Relations Board found on Dec. 23 that Starbucks
had illegally fired three New York City baristas as it tried to squelch
the union organizing effort. The 88-page ruling also says the company
broke the law by giving negative job evaluations to other union
supporters and prohibiting employees from discussing union issues at
work. The judge ordered that the three baristas be reinstated and
receive back wages. The judge also called on Starbucks to end
discriminatory treatment of other pro-union
workers at four Manhattan locations named in the case. The decision
marks the end of an 18-month trial in New York City that pitted the
ubiquitous multinational corporation against a group of twentysomething baristas who are part of the Industrial Workers of the World.
The timing isn't ideal for Starbucks, which faces lower demand from the
recession, an overall loss of panache for the brand, and a sliding
stock price. "[The ruling] is a real thumb in the eye—a real gotcha
moment with potential for heartache," says Eric Dezenhall, chief
executive officer of Dezenhall Resources, a crisis management public
relations firm in Washington D.C. "I don't think it's a crisis, but it
hovers between [being] a nuisance and a problem."
Submitted on Wed, 12/24/2008 - 4:12am
For Immediate Release:
Starbucks Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World)
Contact: StarbucksUnion (at) yahoo.com
Judge Finds Starbucks Guilty of Extensive Union-Busting
The IWW Scores Big Victory Over Global Coffee Chain
New York, NY (Dec. 23, 2008)- Following a lengthy trial here last year, a
National Labor Relations Board judge has found Starbucks guilty of extensive
violations of federal labor law in its bid to counter the IWW Starbucks Workers
Union. In an 88-page decision, Judge Mindy E. Landow found, among other things,
that Starbucks maintained multiple policies which interfered with workers' right
to communicate about the union and about working conditions; terminated three
workers in retaliation for union activity; and repeatedly discriminated against
union supporters. The decision comes despite a 2006 New York settlement in
which Starbucks pledged to stop illegal anti-union activities and mirrors
federal government action against the company for its conduct toward baristas in
Minnesota and Michigan.
"The judge's decision coupled with previous government findings expose
Starbucks for what it is --- a union-busting corporation that will go to
staggering lengths to interfere with the right to freedom of association," said
Daniel Gross, a barista and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union found to
have been unlawfully terminated by the coffee giant. "In these trying economic
times of mass layoffs and slashed work hours, it's more important than ever that
Starbucks and every corporation is confronted with a social movement that
insists on the right to an independent voice on the job."
The Board decision is the latest blow against a company that has
experienced a stunning fall from grace. From a precipitous decrease in customer
demand to its increasingly tattered socially responsible image, the myriad of
challenges facing Starbucks has resulted in the company losing over half its
value from just a year ago. The decision also represents a significant victory
for the IWW Starbucks Workers Union which continues to grow across the country
with baristas taking creative and determined actions to improve the security of
work hours and win respect on the job. Starbucks faces another Labor Board
trial next month in Grand Rapids, Michigan over illegal union-busting.
Submitted on Wed, 12/24/2008 - 4:06am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erik Forman, 608 695 8705
Starbucks Workers Union/IWW
December 23, 2008
Twin Cities Starbucks Baristas to Spill the Beans in New Blog - Starbucks Workers Union Invites Public to 'Look Behind the
Brand
Minneapolis, MN-- the Starbucks Workers Union announced today that Twin Cities Baristas have launched a new blog to document their struggle against poverty wages, inconsistent scheduling, and job insecurity at the world's largest coffee chain.
Union Barista Aaron Kocher said, "This is the blog that Howard Schultz doesn't want you to read. As Starbucks' overpaid executives gut the company to feed greedy investors, we will bring the truth behind the brand into the public eye."
The blog, accessible at
http://tcsbuxunion.com, will provide an inside look at working conditions at Starbucks, keeping the public abreast of Starbucks' vicious attempts to thwart worker unionization amidst deteriorating working conditions.
Submitted on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 2:45pm
As members of the Starbucks Workers Union, we believe that the need for
workplace organizing is greater than ever before ; behind each shiny
logo lies a potential struggle. Since the mid-1970s bosses have been on
the offensive : battering workers with inflation, union busting,
outsourcing, industrial restructuring, and the destruction of the last
shreds of the social safety net. The result of these shifts can be
summed up as the rise of "precarity" as the defining fact of life for
an ever-growing section of the working class.
The Precariat : An Impossible Class
More than anything, precarity describes the everyday life experience of
workers in the corporate chains. It is simply impossible to make a life
for yourself working one of these jobs. Because of the lack of union
organization in these industries, we are almost all legally classified
as "At Will" employees. This means that under U.S. labor law, we can be
fired for no reason. The threat of firing, however, is only the least
subtle of many mechanisms used by management to control us.
At Starbucks, many workers have difficulty budgeting or planning ahead
because our work hours fluctuate wildly from week to week. The company
uses a computer system to determine staffing levels for the stores
based on past sales. Starbucks’ "Automated Labor Scheduling" software
displaces almost all of the risk of the vagaries of the market onto
individual workers. Bosses order "labor" exactly like they order coffee
beans or other inputs. When workers challenge the arbitrary authority
of their boss they often face punitive measures, such as cuts in hours.
But we are not coffee beans, we are human beings ! By organizing, we
assert our humanity in a system founded on our commodification.
