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Submitted on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 3:28am
Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.
By Moira Herbst - Business Week, September 21, 2007
The labor troubles brewing for Starbucks in New York are spreading to another state, putting the company's worker-friendly image on trial.
On Sept. 20, the National Labor Relations Board accused the coffee chain of unlawful anti-union activity at a store in Grand Rapids, Mich., the second time in recent months that the government organization has leveled such charges against Starbucks (SBUX). The company meanwhile continues a months-long trial in New York, facing charges that it unfairly suppressed organizing efforts by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Submitted on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 2:35am
Investigative Report: Promises and poverty; Starbucks calls its coffee worker-friendly -- but in Ethiopia, a day's pay is a dollar - By Tom Knudson - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer, September 23, 2007
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GEMADRO, Ethiopia -- Tucked inside a fancy black box, the $26-a-pound Starbucks Black Apron Exclusives coffee promised to be more than just another bag of beans.
Not only was the premium coffee from a remote plantation in Ethiopia "rare, exotic, cherished," according to Starbucks advertising, it was grown in ways that were good for the environment -- and for local people, too.
Submitted on Tue, 09/25/2007 - 1:55am
For Immediate Release: September 24, 2007 Contact: [email protected]
Statement of the IWW Justice from Bean to Cup Campaign on Sacramento Bee Investigation of Starbucks Coffee Purchasing in Ethiopia
"The four month Sacramento Bee investigation of Starbucks coffee purchasing practices in Ethiopia exposes the same hypocrisy uncovered by the IWW Justice from Bean to Cup delegation when we met with farmers in the birthplace of coffee. While Starbucks makes extraordinary claims about its commitment to coffee farmers, the reality of life on the ground for the farmers and their families is extreme poverty and malnutrition.
Submitted on Mon, 08/27/2007 - 9:47pm
Headlines:
- Starbucks charged again for firing IWW
- Boycott Molson beer, support Alberta strike
- Unions talk tough at US Social Forum
Featured Articles:
- Chicago Couriers: doing solidarity unionism
- IWW meets Bangladeshi garment workers
- Review: Snapshot of Oaxaca commune
Download a free PDF copy of this issue.
Submitted on Sat, 08/25/2007 - 12:32pm
Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.
By Nicole Hill, Christian Science Monitor. Posted August 22, 2007.
Weren't employers who lose access to cheap foreign labor supposed to start paying Americans fair wages?
Picacho, Ariz. -- Near this dusty town in southeastern Arizona, Manuel Reyna pitches watermelons into the back of a trailer hitched to a tractor. His father was a migrant farm worker, but growing up, Mr. Reyna never saw himself following his father's footsteps. Now, as an inmate at the Picacho Prison Unit here, Reyna works under the blazing desert sun alongside Mexican farmers the way his father did.
