This page displays *all* news items from Restaurant, Hotel, and Building Service Workers Industrial Union 640.
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Submitted on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 1:14am
By Luci Scott - The Arizona Republic, Jun. 29, 2010
Twelve employees of Pei Wei Asian Diner at 54th Street and Ray Road in Chandler were fired after they skipped work to participate in a May 29 protest of the new immigration law Senate Bill 1070.
That was nearly half the staff at that restaurant, which has a workforce of about 30, said Pei Wei spokesman Peter Marino.
The fired workers violated a well-established Pei Wei attendance policy, he said.
"When employees choose not to show up for a scheduled shift and choose not to give notice, it causes tremendous disruption to fellow co-workers and impedes our ability to serve our guests," the company said in a statement.
At the same time, Pei Wei said it respects the rights of people to peacefully protest, and it does not comment on local, state or federal laws.
Submitted on Sat, 11/14/2009 - 8:46am
The National Labor Relations Board overturned one of the four items that Starbucks appealed from a decision that an NLRB administrative-law judge made against the company last December.
The decision involved stores in New York, where the judge said work rules were unfairly imposed on employees who supported the union. The coffee chain was ordered to give back jobs to three former workers and compensate them for lost earnings. The company also must post notices informing employees of their labor-organizing rights.
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Submitted on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 10:01am
Clowning the Boss
By FW double jeff
Monday, February 16th The New York branch of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union held an energetic eight-hour picket outside two separate Starbucks locations. Originally planned as a “loose informal picket” outside the Union Square East Starbucks location, managerial stupidity and increased union-busting activity on the part of Starbucks turned it into a media circus and all night protest. Between the time when the picket was planned and when it actually took place, Starbucks decided to fire yet another union barista, Sharon Bell, from the 17th and Broadway location, conveniently located across the park from Union Square East.
The picket was called to protest the recent wave of Starbucks layoffs and draw attention to the refusal of Starbucks to pay severance, in spite of claiming in several press releases to the media that they will be providing severance pay to all laid off workers. The message was expanded to include the demand for the reinstatement of Sharon Bell and an immediate end to the illegal, unethical, nationally coordinated union-busting operations of Starbucks Coffee.
Submitted on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 1:01am
by Joe Tessone
03/03/09- The time is 8:55 AM, 5
minutes before my alarm clock was supposed to sound I am awoken by a
text message which says that Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO and #1 union
buster, is having a press conference at the Oak and Rush Starbucks
location. I jump out of bed, get dressed, and haul downtown. By the
time I get there, the news cameras are gone. I look around and there he
is sitting behind a merchandise wall in an interview with a few
reporters. I order an Iced Tall Passion Tea… no need for caffeine, I’m
fired up.
My old District Manager is in the cafe
greeting customers and she asks me why I’m there. “Just getting a
drink,” I respond. She then proceeds to make a call on her cell phone,
obviously calling upper management. After I get my beverage, I find a
seat, set my bag down, and I approach him.
Submitted on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 3:24pm
From
NBC New York:
Protesters call for "reinstatement of all fired union baristas"
With 10 or 15 current and former Starbucks colleagues by her side, former barista Sharon Bell stood dressed in a black winter parka holding a sign with the names of six recently fired baristas, including herself, and the words, "Rehire laid off baristas now!!!"
Last week, Bell was fired by Starbucks for what her managers said were issues relating to her tardiness and overall attendance, a charge she and her fellow union members adamantly deny.
Bell said the real reason for her "expresso termination" is recent activity with the Starbucks Workers Union. In a document given out at the protest, the union claims the popular coffee company "has illegally fired three baristas for organizing with the Starbucks Workers Union. Sheanel Simon, Sharon Bell and Neal Linder are excellent baristas and highly respected union members." The Union goes on to note that Simon has since been reinstated, while Bell and Linder remain unemployed.