Submitted on Mon, 06/11/2007 - 3:17am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2007
CONTACT: Tristan Bunner: 805.798.5096, [email protected]
Student Worker Action Group
Cal Student Workers Declare Victory But Continue Struggle to Win Other Demands
WHAT: After over 7 months of struggle, Cal student workers employed by Cal Dining are declaring a partial victory today. They have been informed that, as of July 1, 2007, they will receive the base wage rate of $11.25/hr. This rate is equal to the rate non-Cal student full and part time staffs have received since August of last year, though some non-Cal student staff will soon be receiving $11.70/hr.
Though they are happy that they will finally be receiving equal pay, Cal student food service workers still have many questions about the changes, and feel that many of their demands have not yet been met. When the new wage rate is implemented, will all Cal student food service workers receive $11.25/hr, or will senior workers who have received raises above the base rate in the past keep their difference in pay over those who have not?
Submitted on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 12:43pm
Troubled train operator, First Great Western, already short of drivers, has taken the bizarre step of sacking a driver for swearing at a colleague during an argument, claiming that the swearing was "threatening."
Sacked Bristol driver Patrick Spackman said: "I regret swearing at him. And I regret referring to his weight. But for management to call this 'gross misconduct' is just ludicrous. I'm afraid that this kind of language is used all day and every day on the railways and if the company is going to start sacking people for it they won't have many drivers left."
First Great Western boss Alison Forster is already under pressure over the company's poor services. Last year Early Day Motions were tabled in Parliament condemning reductions in services and now David Drew, MP for Stroud, has tabled an EDM calling for First Great Western services to be run in the public sector.
Submitted on Mon, 06/04/2007 - 4:06am
New York, NY After walking at the Pace University undergraduate commencement on May 23rd, Lauren Giaccone and John Cronan have been notified by the Pace Administration that their degrees will be withheld pending the resolution of charges stemming from a November 2006 campus protest. The peaceful protest, calling for the resignation of embattled President David Caputo, was broken up by police who were called to campus by Pace administrators citing a permit requirement for student gatherings. President Caputo has since resigned under a hail of criticism.
Pace University Withholding Two Student Degrees Over Free Speech Fight
Outgoing President Caputo's Tenure Stormy Until the End
Submitted on Thu, 05/31/2007 - 11:04am
By Micheal Johnston - Grand Valley Labor News, June 2007
They’re twenty-somethings, idealistic, motivated and creative. In Grand Rapids they’ve been raised in anti-union, narrowly conservative and hyper-religious West Michigan. Until recently they viewed unions with hostility or as dinosaurs awaiting extinction. Most were indifferent to unions until now.
Across the globe, across the U.S., and in West Michigan they are shaking up the moribund labor movement and the Starbucks world of overpriced coffee, underpaid workers and hypocritical marketing.
Baristas at the Wealthy Street Starbucks, in East Grand Rapids, announced May 17 their membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (www.starbucksunion.org), becoming the first store in Michigan to declare union membership at the world’s largest coffee chain.
Submitted on Wed, 05/30/2007 - 2:31am
May 30, 2007
Friends of the Starbucks Workers Union:
Thank you! Bowing to grassroots pressure from the Industrial Workers of the World and its allies, Starbucks has notified barista Christina Rosevear that it has decided not to fire her. Christina faced imminent termination five days ago at a scheduled meeting with her store manager who warned that she had abandoned her job after she took doctor-ordered leave for a back ailment related to her pregnancy. The manager had also been cutting Christina's hours in retaliation for taking time off to deal with severe morning sickness.
Tired of distressed sleepless nights and the fear of being fired, Christina decided to join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union and fight back for herself, her nineteen-month old daughter, and her future child. You responded to her call for solidarity.
