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Labor organizers picket a Starbucks; NLRB announces hearing

Reposted from New York Newsday - November 26, 2005 

NEW YORK -- Labor organizers formed a picket line in front of a Starbucks at Union Square on Friday in an ongoing bid to push the ubiquitous coffee chain to recognize a citywide union of its workers.

About 20 picketers sang, used air horns and chanted "No latte, no peace," while urging passers-by to boycott the shop. One demonstrator dressed as a giant latte.

Meanwhile, the National Labor Relations Board said it will hold a hearing on Feb. 7 in Manhattan to review allegations leveled against the Seattle-based company by the union, the Industrial Workers of the World.

The union, which has organized three of New York's Starbucks coffee shops, wants the company to guarantee 30-hour work weeks to its employees so they can get health benefits and says Starbucks has illegally resisted its workers'attempts to organize, the New York Times reported in its Saturday editions.

In one example given by the union in a complaint dated Nov. 18, a Starbucks regional director of operations is said to have threatened workers in 2004 with a "loss of wages and benefits if they voted for the union."

Starbucks in New York City - and there are at least 200 within 10 miles of downtown Manhattan - offer a starting wage of $8.50 an hour.

Audrey Lincoff, a Starbucks spokeswoman, told the Times, "While we cannot speculate on why the National Labor Relations Board chose to consolidate the unfair labor practices charges, we believe that we have acted in a fair and lawful manner throughout every aspect of the I.W.W.'s campaign in summer 2004, and since that time."