As part of the Global Day of Action against Starbucks called by the
AIT/IWA and IWW Organise! and the WSM picketed Starbucks in Belfast
today (5th July) to demand the reinstatement of Monica, a member of the
anarcho-syndicalist member working in their central Seville outlet, and
Cole Dorsey, an IWW member who was fired by Starbucks for organising in
their Grand Rapids, Michican, shop.
Organise! and the WSM picketed Starbucks in Belfast city centre today
from 12 to 1 pm. Despite the miserable weather around 12 people joined
the picket and leafleted passers by and potential customers outside the
coffee shop. At the start of the picket 3 people had gone inside to
leaflet customers and staff. There was a very positive response to the
picket however one person was falsely accused of assaulting a
Starbuck's member of staff after leafleting staff and customers inside.
While Starbucks present themselves as a trendy, ethical corporation
when it comes to their own workers they are ruthless union-busters
determined to stop their employees organising. Monica was fired on the
24th of April without notice. She had worked in the central Seville
branch of Starbucks for a year and a half when her manager suddenly
claimed she "created problems with her workmates". She had resistged
management when they made people work public holidays without extra
pay. She refused to attend work meetings outside working hours where no
pay or time in lieu was offered. Her sacking came after she asked about
another worker who had ben fired. The store manager had told her on
several occasions that she must have nothing to do with unions.
Barely a month later, in Grand Rapids, Michican, USA, Starbucks fired
Cole Dorsey on June 6th. Cole had over two years of service and was
active in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.
Originally posted here
July 1, 2008
Coordinated Actions Across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America Could Be Largest Ever Against Coffee Chain
Before sunrise on a Monday morning, outside a sterile office park in
Compton, a convoy of small, beat-up cars, none of them newer than 1995, arrives
at the offices of the trucking firm Calko Speedline. One by one, the car's
drivers emerge, ranchera and mariachi and est?s escuchando a Piol?n por la
ma?ana! competing from their radios. They buy coffee from the taco truck that
follows them in, and assemble in small groups, huddled in circles among their
big rigs - hulking red, green, blue and white mammoths lined up along the curb,
their diesel-burning engines grumbling into action one by one.
The Union of Comerical and Hotel workers CNT-AIT
in Sevilla, Spain along with the Grand Rapids Starbucks Workers Union
(IWW) have announced a Global Day of Action scheduled for July 5th. The
two groups are asking social organizations, unions, and individuals
from around the world to promote and participate in this day of action.
Grand Rapids firing comes in the midst of Unfair Labor Practice charges being investigated by the NLRB against Starbucks.