IWW Starbucks Union News

NLRB approves Starbucks Minneapolis settlement [AP]

By LAUREN SHEPHERD, Associated Press

06.03.09

NEW YORK -- The National Labor Relations Board said Wednesday it approved a settlement with Starbucks Corp. that explicitly states Minneapolis-area baristas can discuss union issues while on the job.

According to the settlement, Starbucks will post a notice in stores telling baristas the company will not remove union postings and will not prohibit union supporters from discussing the union while at work.

The settlement follows allegations that Starbucks' policy on posting materials and soliciting employees was being enforced differently in certain stores and by certain store managers.

The union, the Industrial Workers of the World, has been attempting to gain a foothold at the Seattle-based gourmet coffee retailer.

Starbucks did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, saying in a statement that it is the "latest in the IWW's 'kitchen sink' approach to criticizing all things Starbucks."

The company said it chose to settle to save the time and expense of going to trial.
Marlin Osthus, acting regional director at the NLRB office overseeing the Minneapolis area, said the union has 14 days to appeal the agency's approval of the settlement.

Osthus said Starbucks does not need to post the notice in stores until after the 14 day period has passed.

IWW members filed the initial NLRB complaint against Starbucks in January, saying the company did not allow employees to post union materials on bulletin boards and interfered with union supporters who were attempting to discuss work conditions and the union with coworkers.

The IWW Starbucks Workers Union estimates over 300 current and former employees are members nationwide. As of September 2007 the company had 172,000 employees worldwide, although since January 2008, the chain has announced more than 900 store closures and said it plans to cut as many as 6,700 jobs.

Faced with Growing Uproar, Starbucks Settles Sixth Labor Complaint

Mounting Rights Violations Fan the Flames of Escalating Public Outcry

IWW Starbucks Workers Union

June 1, 2009

Minneapolis, MN– The Starbucks Coffee Co. settled a complaint today from the National Labor Relations Board over charges of violating workers’ rights --- the sixth such settlement in three years for the ailing coffee giant. The case comes as a new website (StopStarbucks.com) and viral video calling on CEO Howard Schultz to respect workers’ right to join a labor union spread like wildfire across the Internet. The new media initiative, from Robert Greenwald’s “Brave New Films”, has already been viewed over 60,000 times with a related petition garnering almost 15,000 signatures.

“This settlement proves that Starbucks executives are not above the law and cannot block hard working baristas from making positive change,” said Angel Gardner, a barista and member of the Starbucks Workers Union in the Twin Cities. “How can Starbucks claim that it maintains a positive work environment when one labor case after another exposes its lack of respect for employees?”

Polish Unionists Protest Starbucks

Check out the great pics at: http://www.wsa.org.pl/module.php?op=galery&cmd=366

What Do Starbucks and Wal-Mart Have in Common? [Brave New Films]

Watch the video and sign the memo to Howard Schultz to insist he respect the right of Starbucks workers to join a union

Statement of the Starbucks Workers Union on its Fifth Anniversary

May 17, 2009 marks five years since baristas at a Starbucks in New York City announced their membership in the Industrial Workers of the World and launched a campaign open to employees throughout the company. A worker-led organizing effort with the legendary IWW at the world's largest coffee chain could have been a flash in the pan– brilliant and inspiring, but brief. But a fire was lit and a movement began. The idea that Starbucks workers could organize themselves and speak in their own voice, independent of company executives and union bureaucrats, could not be restrained.

The bosses did their best to defeat us, to bury any indication of our existence under a heap of lies and retaliatory firings. They tried to stamp us out, even as the campaign for secure jobs and a living wage burst from New York into Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and beyond.

While Starbucks used the economic crisis as a pretext for an all-out assault on our already meager standard of living, our struggle gained momentum this year amidst a stark decline of the company's brand and widespread store closures. Baristas around the country and around the world made the decision to organize and fight back against severe cuts in work hours, chronic under staffing, and a new "Optimal Scheduling" program which forces many workers to be available to Starbucks for over 80 hours a week without being guaranteed a single work hour.

This journey has been full of set-backs and tests of will. Progress has been made yet much remains to be done. But one thing is certain: our voice for dignity is firmly planted and our union’s future is bright.