Starbucks Union - Starbucks Union

Call-In/Text-In Action: Demand Starbucks Pay Barista Her Wages!

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:19:31 -0500

Fellow Union Members and Friends:

Anna Hurst is a New York City barista, Starbucks Union member, and a single mother of two.

One day in August, Anna went home ill from work at Starbucks. In retaliation, her store manager - abruptly and without notice - denied her any work hours for two full weeks.

Anna needs the money she's owed to put food on the table, pay her bills, and buy Christmas presents for her two children.

Call and/or text message store manager Gwendolyn Krueger today at 551-497-0127 and demand that Starbucks pay Anna what she is owed!

This action for dignity will last seven days, Dec. 5-Dec. 12

Thank you for your solidarity.

--- The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is a grassroots organization of over 200 current and former employees at the world's largest coffee chain united for secure work hours and a living wage. The union has members throughout the United States fighting for systemic change at the company and remedying individual grievances with management. http://www.StarbucksUnion.org

EMERGENCY: Starbucks Union Supporter in Grave Danger in Oaxaca Tonight

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:42:14 -0500

Friends:

Eric Larson, an IWW member and long-time supporter of
the SWU, is in grave danger along with many indigenous
workers in a home in Oaxaca. Eric and his companeros
could be seriously wounded or worse tonight and
they're asking for help immediately. Eric is a
thoughtful, kind, and generous unionist and his
comrades are remarkable activists as well. I know you
receive many e-mail pleas but I implore you to take
the time to respond to this one immediately. The
ruling party could lay siege to their home any minute
now. We don't need anymore martyrs ripped from their
families and friends in Oaxaca. The call for help
from Oaxaca follows.

In Solidarity,

Daniel Gross

Please forward widely

Priistas are planning to remove CIPO [grassroots
indigenous organization] out of the neighborhood by
force!

This part of Santa Lucia is enemy territory. It is
near Barricade Three, the Príista attack of last
Friday, and the site of Brad Will's murder. It's also

Steamed Baristas Shut Down Ft. Worth Starbucks Drive-Thru, Demand Affordable Healthcare and Paid Sick Days for Workers with H1N1

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:23:09 -0500

Steamed Baristas Shut Down Fort Worth Starbucks Drive-Thru to Demand Affordable Healthcare and Paid Sick Days for those Diagnosed with H1N1

Press Conference: December 18, 12:00 noon, 8th and W. Rosedale Starbucks, Fort Worth

Fort Worth, TX- Baristas and community supporters at the 8th and Rosedale Starbucks shut down the store’s drive-thru this morning and delivered a list of demands including affordable health care options and sick days for those displaying H1N1 or other cold and flu symptoms. Starbucks doubled the cost of the company health insurance plan in September, leaving many workers unable to afford treatment because of sky-high deductibles and premiums.

“We’ve had enough. Baristas should not be forced to expose customers to H1N1 or other contagions and stay sick longer, just in order to be able to make the money they need to support their families and pay astronomical health care costs. We’re making $7.30/hr., that’s a nickel above minimum wage,” said IWW Barista Michelle Cahill.

This is YOUR victory - Starbucks Union Prevails Over Coffee Giant in Court!

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:41:43 -0500

Sisters and Brothers,

Going back to 2004 and continuing to the present, you and your labor unions around the world have risen up in solidarity with IWW baristas at Starbucks and against union-busting by the company. Your support and identification with the grassroots struggle of workers at the world's largest coffee chain was instrumental in yesterday's court victory. This is YOUR victory, a victory for all working people. As corporate dominance continues to crumble from Greece to Chicago to Ecuador, please stay with us as we move toward ultimate justice against Starbucks.

The New York Times article on the court victory is here:

December 24, 2008

Starbucks Loses Round in Battle Over Union

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE, New York Times

A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled on Tuesday that Starbucks had illegally fired three baristas and otherwise violated federal labor laws in seeking to beat back unionization efforts at several of its Manhattan cafes.

The administrative law judge, Mindy E. Landow, found that Starbucks had also broken the law by issuing negative job evaluations to union supporters and prohibiting employees from discussing the union even though the employees were allowed to discuss other subjects not related to work.

Video: IWW Barista Discusses Starbucks New "Optimal Scheduling"

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:47:12 -0400

Liberte Locke, a Starbucks barista and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, discusses the negative impact of "Optimal Scheduling" on workers. She encourages baristas to gain respect for their hard work with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union:

Watch Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jLmCetMKI

E-Mail Action: Fortune Magazine, Stop Lying About Starbucks Being a 'Best Company to Work For'

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:02:35 -0500

Dear SWU Activists,

Please take just a moment to participate in the e-mail action included below by going to http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1948. Starbucks deceives people around the world through the Fortune Magazine '100 Best Companies to Work For' list and this has to stop. Thank you for your commitment to speaking truth for working families.

Andrew Serwer
Managing Editor
Fortune Magazine
1 Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019

January 28, 2008

Dear Mr. Serwer,

I take serious issue with the erroneous information regarding Starbucks in Fortune Magazine's 2008 '100 Best Companies to Work For'. I am especially concerned about the reliability of Fortune given that the IWW Starbucks Workers Union wrote you an open letter before the 2007 '100 Best Companies to Work For' feature that pointed out the very same misinformation which you proceeded to include once again in the 2008 list.

The 2008 'Best Companies to Work For' list claims that the most common hourly job at Starbucks is a mysterious position called "Coordinator III" which takes in $37,390 per year. Once again, the most common hourly job at Starbucks, by far, is a position called "Barista" which likely takes in approximately $12,000 per year on average. The precise average pay for baristas is not known since Starbucks refuses to make that information public.

E-Mail Action: Starbucks Must Honor MLK Day in 2008

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:47:08 -0500

Dear Starbucks Union Activists,

Please join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union call for the coffee giant to honor Martin Luther King Day in 2008 by paying the same holiday premium that it pays for several other federal holidays to baristas who work.

While Starbucks claims a commitment to racial diversity and pays a holiday premium on federal holidays including the Fourth of July and New Year's Day, baristas receive no added compensation for working through the MLK Day holiday.

-Urge Starbucks to pay the holiday premium on January 21st by participating in the SWU E-Mail Action at http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1919

-For more action ideas and to learn more about the SWU's MLK Day Initiative log on to http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1914

Thank you for all of your hard work. Together we win.

In Solidarity,

SWU, Organizing Committee

E-Mail Action: Starbucks Must Honor MLK Day in 2008

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:47:08 -0500

Dear Starbucks Union Activists,

-Urge Starbucks to pay the holiday premium on January 21st by participating in the SWU E-Mail Action at node/1919

-For more action ideas and to learn more about the SWU's MLK Day Initiative log on to node/1914 Thank you for all of your hard work. Together we win.

In Solidarity,

SWU, Organizing Committee

E-Mail Action: Starbucks Must Honor MLK Day in 2008

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:47:08 -0500

Dear Starbucks Union Activists,

-Urge Starbucks to pay the holiday premium on January 21st by participating in the SWU E-Mail Action at http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1919

-For more action ideas and to learn more about the SWU's MLK Day Initiative log on to http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1914

Thank you for all of your hard work. Together we win.

In Solidarity,

SWU, Organizing Committee

E-Mail Action: Starbucks Must Honor MLK Day in 2008

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:47:08 -0500

Dear Starbucks Union Activists,

-Urge Starbucks to pay the holiday premium on January 21st by participating in the SWU E-Mail Action at http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1919

-For more action ideas and to learn more about the SWU's MLK Day Initiative log on to http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1914 Thank you for all of your hard work. Together we win.

In Solidarity,

SWU, Organizing Committee

Latest on IWW-Starbucks Trial and Barista Simone Gordon's Fight Against Discrimination

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:46:52 -0400

August 13, 2007

Dear Starbucks Union Activists,

With your continuing support, union baristas are standing up for a living wage, secure work hours, and a respectful work environment through the hot summer months. We are no longer silenced by the phony social responsibility of the world's largest coffee chain.

The NLRB trial against Starbucks over its illegal union-busting campaign is in full swing in New York City. While Starbucks disparaged and red-baited the IWW in its opening statement, the company's lawyers did admit that our campaign against union-busting has successfully imposed real costs on the chain.

The coffee giant is not happy about having to go to trial either. Starbucks whined about having to turn over some 100,000 documents in the proceedings and having to pay its high-priced lawyers. What management really hates is having the light of day shined upon their ugly effort to crush workers who commit the high crime of supporting a labor union. Testimony continues throughout the week. New York SWU activists should drop by 120 W. 45th St. 14th Fl. The trial usually goes from 9:30am-5:00pm but Tuesday August 14th we're finishing at 3pm.

Take Action: Starbucks Barista Homeless After Racist Demotion

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:40:20 -0400

June 26, 2007

Sisters and Brothers:

Simone Gordon and the IWW Starbucks Workers Union
[StarbucksUnion.org] need your solidarity now. Ms.
Gordon is homeless and on welfare after Starbucks
demoted her from shift supervisor to barista on New
Year’s Day and cut her schedule to a stunning five
hours per week. Simone’s store manager, Graham
Higgins, falsely accused Ms. Gordon, who is
African-American, of being racist against white people
and stated that she wasn’t fit to be a leader in the
store. The allegation that Ms. Gordon is racist is so
patently absurd that we won’t even dignify it with a
response. Suffice it to say, Simone Gordon, who has a
white grandparent, opposes all forms of
discrimination.

Starbucks’ discriminatory conduct has caused Ms.
Gordon to lose her home as she struggles to care for
her father who is suffering from a severe heart
ailment. To add insult to injury, store manager
Higgins has been spreading the falsehood that Ms.
Gordon is racist to customers and other employees at

Victory for IWW Barista Against Pregnancy Discrimination at Starbucks!

Wed, 30 May 2007 00:44:58 -0400

May 30, 2007

Friends of the Starbucks Workers Union:

Thank you! Bowing to grassroots pressure from the Industrial Workers of the World and its allies, Starbucks has notified barista Christina Rosevear that it has decided not to fire her. Christina faced imminent termination five days ago at a scheduled meeting with her store manager who warned that she had abandoned her job after she took doctor-ordered leave for a back ailment related to her pregnancy. The manager had also been cutting Christina's hours in retaliation for taking time off to deal with severe morning sickness.

Tired of distressed sleepless nights and the fear of being fired, Christina decided to join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union and fight back for herself, her nineteen-month old daughter, and her future child. You responded to her call for solidarity.

In just a few days, hundreds of you from across the United States and abroad contacted the company demanding that Christina not be fired. A Bay Area IWW team accompanied Christina to the meeting with her manager only to have it cancelled by a higher-up at Starbucks who admitted the company needed more time to make up its mind. Now the coffee giant has informed Christina that she's back on the work schedule and won't be fired!

Link for E-mail Action

Thu, 24 May 2007 02:11:16 -0400

Due to a bug, the previous e-mail may have had a bad link for the action alert. The correct link is http://starbucksunion.org/node/1641 or just access the e-mail action through the homepage at StarbucksUnion.org

Thank you for all of your support and please do take a moment to oppose pregnancy discrimination at Starbucks.

PLEASE HELP: Pregnant Barista Facing Discrimination and Imminent Termination

Thu, 24 May 2007 01:57:14 -0400

Sisters and Brothers:

Starbucks barista Christina Rosevear and her 19 month-old daughter need your help now. Christina recently learned that she was pregnant with her second child and she promptly informed the store manager at the Northern California Starbucks where she works. Instead of being considerate of Christina's pregnancy, Starbucks began to discriminate against her.

Christina developed severe morning sickness and needed to take the occasional day off. On several occasions after she took a day off, she'd find that her work hours would be cut the following week depriving her of much needed income. Sometimes she'd receive as little as four hours of work per week! As a single mom and a low-wage worker, Christina can't afford such a dramatic pay cut. Things only got worse and now Christina is facing the prospect of an unjust termination.

Christina's doctor ordered her to take time off work to deal with a pregnancy-related back ailment that may be connected to heavy lifting at Starbucks. When Christina was ready to come back to work, the store manager warned that he might fire her for being away from the job. Christina has a meeting coming up with the manager and it's critical that Starbucks hear from people of conscience now that discriminating against someone for a pregnancy or illness is wrong.