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
work hours and win respect on the job. Starbucks faces another Labor Board
trial next month in Grand Rapids, Michigan over illegal union-busting.
Starbucks is to begin proceedings Wednesday in a third case in which it
allegedly fired a barista because of his union activities.
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