Starbucks Union Rallies

The "Black Friday" rallies in support of the Starbucks Workers union were a tremendous success today. Many fellow workers took the light rail train from Minneapolis to the Megamall in Bloomington. Unlike the last time, there were no riot police to intercept the train. We held a rally on public property, across from the north entrance to the mall. Speakers from The Starbucks Workers Union, The IWW, Students for a Democratic Society, and several local progressive trade unions; all voiced their support to the Starbucks workers and to the right of those workers to organize.

After the Megamall rally, supporters took the train back to Minneapolis for a rally at the newest unionized Starbucks store at Nicollet and Franklin. We presented a "Welcome to the Union" cake to the workers in that store. Even though the district manager was in the store at the time, events went off without incident.

After presenting the cake, we went across the street from Starbucks, where we gave away fair trade coffee which had been donated by a local fair trade shop. We had several discussions with passers-by concerning our demands that Starbucks recognize the right of their workers to organize a union, and that Starbucks pledge to use fair trade coffee in their shops. The idea was to show that there is a trail of worker exploitation which begins on coffee plantations where "Third World" workers are paid as little as a dollar a day for their hard work...and continues with the abuse of Starbuck baristas in the shops where that coffee is sold.

Congratulations to the courageous workers at the newest organized Starbucks, and thanks to everyone who participated in today's events.