Starbucks Union

Yeah...Unions are a really new idea!.......(rolls eyes)

Unions have been around for a long time. Unions fight for better wages and improvements in all working conditions. Union workers generally enjoy better paychecks and benefits than non-union workers. Just ask a Union person.

The fact that the IWW seeks to reshape a fundamentally exploitative and undemocratic institution into a just and pluralistic one is no secret. This is what the labor movement (at it's best) has always been about. As Americans we have been taught to cherish democracy. Why constrain this love of democracy to the political and social spheres? Why not extend this noble ideal to the most essential economic one as well?

"""One of the things I have noticed here is several people have asked what specifically is in it for them if they join this union and all the answers they have been given have been either nonsense or non-answers ("equality" or "democracy" WTF??)."""

A union is a group of workers that jointly fights for a better life for themselves and their class. Is it really necessary to explain why it is desirable that such a group function on an equitable and democratic basis?

..DUH!...Notice I inserted a rolling of the eyes?

I was being sarcastic towards this dweeb

So how does the IWW/Starbucks union plan on abolishing capitalism? And what will they replace the wage system with?

And how many of you honestly think Marxism is going to gain any momentum in the US?

Most of the IWW's members are not Marxists by the way. I am certainly no Marxist.

The IWW's opposition to capitalism is a very practical one. As a labor organization whose immediate goal is better conditions in the workplace and whose ultimate goal is the defense and perpetuation of such conditions, it must be ultimately opposed to an economic system that will only accept any such conditions on a limited basis as temporary compromises and means of social control.

We are organizing ourselves to win a living wage and human dignity. This in itself is an anti capitalist agenda and this fact alone constitutes at least three strikes against the capitalist system.

Mr_Man: So how does the IWW/Starbucks union plan on abolishing capitalism? And what will they replace the wage system with?

---- go to the IWW page man (http://www.iww.org), you know how to browse right?

And how many of you honestly think Marxism is going to gain any momentum in the US?

---- duh! are you on the right website?

Name one country without capitalism that has a higher stander of living than US.

Ists and isms are not even worth talking about when you are struggling every single day to keep your head above water. The issues of the every day Starbucks worker are a direct result of some larger system and I think we all have some understanding of that fact but in the end it really doesn't matter.

Starbucks workers need change, they need something better for themselves and they are working for a company that could take a little better care of them. Thats the more important topic of discussion here, not the wickedness or flawlessness of a particular economic system.

You promise me respect and dignity, then treat me that way, you say you have a good "total pay" package, then show me the money, you say you obey all applicable labor laws, then follow the codes. Don't come at me talking about ists and isms, I'm a little too busy with living my life to be talking about economic and political systems.

Southbux,well stated post,kudoes to you. Starbucks is a profitable company,expanding to every stree corner in america. The baristas are a major player in the company image,but not treated as a major player,thats where the IWW Union can help the baristas gain the wages,benefits,and the respect they so rightly deserve. Vote for the Union.