Starbucks Union

The SWU Applauds the Efforts of Baristas in Chile and Pledges Close Cooperation

New York, NY (05/05/2009)- The IWW Starbucks Workers Union has enthusiastically welcomed the first union of Starbucks workers in Latin America and has pledged support for the new endeavor. Starbucks baristas and shift supervisors in Chile have organized for respect on the job, a dependable work schedule, and a living wage, among other issues. Supporters of the new union, Sindicato de Trabajadores de Starbucks Coffee Chile S.A., can learn more about the effort on their website http://sindicatosbux.blogspot.com/.

"Around the world, Starbucks jobs must work for hard-working baristas, not just senior executives," said Chrissy Cogswell, a Starbucks employee in Chicago and a member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. "The Chilean baristas have created a voice at work to make sure their contribution to the company is respected."

Charges stemmed from Twin Cities union activities

By Julie Forster

jforster@pioneerpress.com

05/01/2009

The National Labor Relations Board has sided with union officials who maintain Starbucks Corp. engaged in unfair labor practices at eight Twin Cities stores to thwart efforts to organize workers.

An agency investigation determined 16 charges against Starbucks have merit, and the labor relations board will now propose a settlement.

The Starbucks Workers Union filed the charges in January, alleging a wide range of violations, from forbidding workers from discussing the union to expelling union sympathizers from the stores.

The union, which is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World, says it consists of more than 300 current and former Starbucks employees seeking guaranteed work hours and better pay.

This Friday, May 1st, is YOUR day, a day to celebrate all working people. Please take a moment to thank your co-workers, friends, and family members for all the hard work they do every day.

Many people don’t know about the history of May 1st as a workers’ holiday. Here is some information on the roots of May 1st, also called May Day.

ORIGINS

The origins of International Workers’ Day go back to 1886, when hundreds of thousands workers across the United States went on strike. Workers demanded that their 10- and 12-hour workdays be shortened to an 8-hour day with no reduction in pay. Over the next few years, thousands of workers won the 8-hour workday that many of us still enjoy today.

REMEMBERING THE HAYMARKET MARTYRS

We also celebrate in memory of the Haymarket massacre, in which eight labor activists were framed and put on trial by the government. On May 4, 1886, there was a rally at Chicago ’s Haymarket Square in support of striking workers from a nearby factory.

For Immediate Release:
IWW Starbucks Workers Union

Contact: StarbucksUnion@yahoo.com

Starbucks Union Member Laid Off After Confronting CEO and Blogging About It

Union Immediately Hits Starbucks with Legal Action at National Labor Relations Board

Chicago, IL (03-18-2009)- The Starbucks Coffee Co. informed outspoken union member and barista, Joe Tessone, yesterday that it was laying him off, just two weeks after he confronted CEO Howard Schultz over the company’s squeezing of employees. Mr. Tessone’s blog post on the encounter entitled, “Howard the Coward: The Day My Boss Ran Away” quickly became an Internet hit among fast food workers and their supporters (online at: http://www.iww.org/en/node/4618).

"When I heard Howard Schultz was in town, I knew I had to get to the store and make my voice heard as a barista and union member," said Tessone, a 4 ½ year veteran of the company with an excellent performance record. "He said he’d speak to me after his interview with the Wall Street Journal only to scurry through the emergency exit the first chance he got. I told Schultz that it was time to dialogue with union baristas and that too many of us we’re living in poverty but he showed nothing but cowardice."

Drives to organize build to tense legal disputes

By ANDREA JAMES
P-I REPORTER

The scene: An off-duty Starbucks barista lounges at the East Ninth Street store in Manhattan, wearing a union button. A customer, who happens to be a manager at another Starbucks store, enters to buy a drink, sees the button and asks about it.

The dialogue grows hot. Starbucks employees don't need a union because they get health benefits, a 401(k) plan and stock options, the manager says.

Things then start "to happen really fast and get really loud," the barista recounts at a trial. "He was in my face, and basically we started having an argument. He got into my face and raised his hands up."

The barista tells the manager, "You can go f*** yourself, if you want to f*** me up, go ahead, I'm here."

This drama is part of an 88-page ruling that illustrates the ongoing tension between Starbucks Corp. and the Starbucks Workers Union.

In December, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled that Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. violated federal labor law by trying to stop union organizing at four Manhattan cafes. Starbucks is appealing the decision.