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IWW Victory for Fired Starbucks Barista Isis Saenz - Starbucks Hit With Yet Another Labor Board Complaint

New York, NY- Less than three months after the National Labor Relations Board hit Starbucks with a 30-count legal complaint, the federal agency has once again accused the coffee giant of breaking the law in a continuing effort to undermine the IWW Starbucks Workers Union [StarbucksUnion.org]. Based on an independent investigation into the company’s conduct, the Board has alleged that Starbucks fired outspoken union barista, Isis Saenz, for protected organizing activity.

“It’s beyond dispute now that Starbucks is waging one of the most relentless anti-union operations in the United States today,” said Stuart Lichten, the IWW’s attorney on the case. “If Wal-Mart has a soul mate in the union-busting arena, it’s Starbucks.”

Starbucks fired Ms. Saenz after she participated in a union protest at a Park Avenue Starbucks where Chairman Howard Schultz was scheduled to attend a book release event. Protesters, who were calling on the company to pay a living wage and respect the right to organize, chanted “shame, shame” when Starbucks Regional Vice President Jim McDermott exited the store. Starbucks was upset that Ms. Saenz referred to McDermott as “Jimmy”. Working people in the United States and abroad took to the streets in a global day of action to condemn Ms. Saenz's termination.

“With this complaint, workers everywhere should rest assured that calling your boss by his or her first name at a union protest is protected,” said a smiling Alex Van Schaick, an IWW barista at the Park Avenue store. “Even if you add a ‘y’.”

The trial against Starbucks on all the outstanding New York charges is set for July 9, 2007 at Region 2 of the Labor Board. Last year, the coffee giant entered a lengthy settlement agreement with the federal government in the first labor case brought by baristas in the United States.

Starbucks workers can earn a starting wage as low as $6 or $7 an hour and are prohibited from obtaining full-time status. While the company boasts of its health care offering, Starbucks actually insures a lower percentage of its workforce than Wal-Mart, a company notorious for its unaffordable health care package. Due to understaffing, baristas are often forced to work at an unsafe speed exposing themselves to the risk of repetitive stress injuries and burns.

The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is an organization of employees at the world's largest coffee chain united for dignity on the job and in society. Since the founding of the union in 2004, Starbucks workers have joined at multiple stores in several U.S. states. Pressure from the union against Starbucks has resulted in wage increases and the remedy of a diverse array of grievances from pregnancy discrimination to health and safety violations.

With members across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia, the Industrial Workers of the World is a union dedicated to democracy in the workplace.