What in the hell …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erik Forman, 608 695 8705
Starbucks Workers Union/IWW

December 23, 2008

Twin Cities Starbucks Baristas to Spill the Beans in New Blog
Starbucks Workers Union Invites Public to ‘Look Behind the Brand’

Blog: http://tcsbuxunion.com

Minneapolis, MN– the Starbucks Workers Union announced today that Twin Cities Baristas have launched a new blog to document their struggle against poverty wages, inconsistent scheduling, and job insecurity at the world’s largest coffee chain.

Union Barista Aaron Kocher said, “This is the blog that Howard Schultz doesn’t want you to read. As Starbucks’ overpaid executives gut the company to feed greedy investors, we will bring the truth behind the brand into the public eye.”

The blog, accessible at http://tcsbuxunion.com, will provide an inside look at working conditions at Starbucks, keeping the public abreast of Starbucks’ vicious attempts to thwart worker unionization amidst deteriorating working conditions.

Background on the IWW Starbucks Workers Union
While portraying itself as a ‘socially-responsible’ employer, Starbucks pays baristas a poverty wage of $7.60/hr. In addition, all retail hourly workers at Starbucks in the United States are part-time employees with no guaranteed number of work hours per week. According to Starbucks figures released to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 40.9% of its employees (including managers) are covered by the company health care package, a lower percentage than the oft-criticized Wal-Mart, which insures 47% of its workforce.

Since the launch of the IWW campaign at Starbucks on May 17, 2004, the company has been cited multiple times for illegal union-busting by the National Labor Relations Board. The company settled two complaints against it and is awaiting a decision by a judge in New York on more than 30 additional rights’ violations. Starbucks’ large anti-union operation is operated in conjunction with the Akin Gump law firm and the Edelman public relations firm.
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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. The SWU has been especially active in New York City, Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Minneapolis.

For Immediate Release:
Starbucks Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World)

Contact: StarbucksUnion (at) yahoo.com

Judge Finds Starbucks Guilty of Extensive Union-Busting

The IWW Scores Big Victory Over Global Coffee Chain

New York, NY (Dec. 23, 2008)- Following a lengthy trial here last year, a National Labor Relations Board judge has found Starbucks guilty of extensive violations of federal labor law in its bid to counter the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. In an 88-page decision, Judge Mindy E. Landow found, among other things, that Starbucks maintained multiple policies which interfered with workers’ right to communicate about the union and about working conditions; terminated three workers in retaliation for union activity; and repeatedly discriminated against union supporters. The decision comes despite a 2006 New York settlement in which Starbucks pledged to stop illegal anti-union activities and mirrors federal government action against the company for its conduct toward baristas in Minnesota and Michigan.

“The judge’s decision coupled with previous government findings expose Starbucks for what it is — a union-busting corporation that will go to staggering lengths to interfere with the right to freedom of association,” said Daniel Gross, a barista and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union found to have been unlawfully terminated by the coffee giant. “In these trying economic times of mass layoffs and slashed work hours, it’s more important than ever that Starbucks and every corporation is confronted with a social movement that insists on the right to an independent voice on the job.”

The Board decision is the latest blow against a company that has experienced a stunning fall from grace. From a precipitous decrease in customer demand to its increasingly tattered socially responsible image, the myriad of challenges facing Starbucks has resulted in the company losing over half its value from just a year ago. The decision also represents a significant victory for the IWW Starbucks Workers Union which continues to grow across the country with baristas taking creative and determined actions to improve the security of works hours and win respect on the job. Starbucks faces another Labor Board trial next month in Grand Rapids, Michigan over illegal union-busting.

“For the first time, a judge has confirmed the existence of a nationally coordinated anti-union operation at Starbucks,” said Stuart Lichten, the attorney for the IWW Starbucks Workers Union in the case. “This decision conclusively establishes Starbucks’ animosity toward labor organizing.”

The union is confident that Judge Landow’s copiously documented and well-reasoned 88-page decision will be upheld by the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. should Starbucks appeal. The victory is sure to be gratifying for the union’s international supporters who conducted spirited global days of action in defense of Isis Saenz, Joe Agins, Jr., and Daniel Gross after their terminations which the Board has now found to be unlawful.

The National Labor Relations Board attorneys on the case were Burt Pearlstone and Audrey Eveillard. The union’s attorney Stuart Lichten is a partner at Schwartz, Licthen & Bright, a prominent New York City labor law firm. Starbucks was represented by union-avoidance lawyers Daniel Nash, Stacey Eisenstein, and Nicole Morgan at corporate firm Akin Gump.

The IWW Starbucks Workers Union (StarbucksUnion.org) is an organization of almost 300 current and former Starbucks employees united for a living wage, secure work hours, and respect on the job. Founded in 2004, the union uses direct action, litigation, and advocacy to both make systemic improvements at Starbucks and take on the company over unfair treatment of individual baristas.

The Industrial Workers of the World (iww.org) is a rank and file labor union dedicated to democracy in the workplace and global solidarity.

The NLRB decision is online here: http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/ALJ%20Decisions/2008/JD-NY-46%2008.htm