Protests held at Starbucks in South Fort Myers (Florida)
Submitted on Sat, 11/25/2006 - 3:39am
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
By By news-press.com - Originally posted on November 24, 2006
Two of the three Starbucks locations at the Market Square were the scene of protests this morning.
Roughly 17 people ascended on the stand-alone at the shop's at Market Square and at the in-store and the the Target locations.
Melody Gonzalez, 23, of Immokalee said the group was there to protest what she contends is Starbucks firing of workers who are trying to unionize and receive better wages and health insurance. She said they are also protesting Starbucks alleged failure to use only fair trade coffee.
"A fair trade means the coffee farmers are receiving a fair price for the coffee they produce," she said.
Gonzalez said local protests is part of a national initiative today and tomorrow to call attention to these issues.
The protest began at about 9 a.m. With people bearing signs stating such things as "Starbucks robs coffee farmers" and "know where your bean has been."
At the stand-alone store the protesters stood along an access road as Black Friday shoppers drove by. In the parking lot behind them were as many as four cars from the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
Gonzalez said most of the protesters were from Immokalee with some from Fort Myers and they came as concerned citizens, not representing any organizations. However, she did say that their ranks included members of the Student Farmworkers Alliance, Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
"There's shopping and there's thoughtful shopping," Laura Germino of LaBelle said. She was there with her husband, Greg Asbed and their son, Isaiah, 22-months old.
"We just thought it was a different approach to the big buying day for consumers,"Germino said. "There are thoughtful consumers out there who think about where they shop and want to support businesses and treat people right and have fair trade policies."
The protest was over by roughly noon. The manager of the stand-alone Starbucks store said company policy prevented her from commenting.