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This is the news page for our Grand Rapids General Membership Branch. To get an overview about our contact info, news and events, please visit our home page.

Grand Rapids Wobbly Participates in Occupation of Senator Levin's Office in Response to Troop Escalation in Afghanistan

Submitted by coledorsey on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 8:40pm.
Why We Occupied Senator Levin’s Office Today, we occupied Senator Carl Levin’s office in Grand Rapids as a protest against the current administration’s decision to escalate the US war in Afghanistan. We do this not simply because we are against war, but because this decision by the Obama administration is unjust. The US is not in Afghanistan to bring Democracy – Since 1979, the US has supported anti-democratic forces such as the Mujahadeen, the Northern Alliance, the Taliban and a variety of individual warlords. The US has also supported the current regime of Karzai, knowing full well that his administration has been corrupt from the beginning.


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Starbucks Settles ULP Charges Over Firing At Michigan Store, But Union Refuses to Sign

Submitted by intexile on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 6:00pm.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

A National Labor Relations Board regional director in Detroit Jan. 16 approved a settlement agreement with Starbucks Corp. resolving allegations of unfair labor practices by the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), an affiliate of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), filed with NLRB Region 7 (Starbucks Corp. d/b/a Starbucks Coffee Co., N.L.R.B. Reg. Dir., No. 7-CA-51190, settlement approved 1/16/09).

The NLRB regional office in Detroit had found sufficient evidence to establish an employer violation of the National Labor Relations Act at a Starbucks store in Grand Rapids, Mich., according to Stephen Glasser, NLRB regional director for Region 7.

The Grand Rapids Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) filed several charges April 15, one of which NLRB found to be a possible violation of the act. On behalf of fired worker Cole Dorsey, SWU claimed Starbucks illegally fired a worker who had been involved in union activities.

Glasser said NLRB concluded there was sufficient evidence to establish Dorsey was fired for his union activities and support for the union. "We thought we could prove that," he told BNA Jan. 9. Starbucks had said it fired Dorsey for attendance issues, Glasser said.
Reinstatement Not Required.

Under the settlement, reached one day before a trial was to be held, Starbucks will expunge record of the termination from the employee's personnel file and will post a notice for 60 days at the Grand Rapids, Mich., store outlining employees' rights under the NLRA.

Under the settlement, Starbucks is not required to reinstate the employee or issue back pay. Although the union had sought Dorsey's reinstatement, NLRB determined that it would not be appropriate, Glasser said.


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Starbucks Caves in to Avoid Today's Trial on Fellow Worker Dorsey's Termination

Submitted by intexile on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 6:33pm.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

By Melissa Allison - Seattle Times business reporter, Jan. 6, 2009
Starbucks has reached a settlement in principle over a Michigan barista whom the National Labor Relations Board said was fired in June because of his union activities.

An administrative trial that was scheduled for today has been canceled, and the agreement is expected to be signed this week, said Chet Byerly, resident officer for the NLRB in Grand Rapids. He would not disclose details of the proposed agreement.

A Starbucks spokeswoman confirmed that it is working on a settlement.

It is the third time in a month that Starbucks has faced action from the NLRB regarding the Industrial Workers of the World union.

Last month, an NLRB administrative law judge found that Starbucks took part in unfair labor practices at several of its New York cafes.


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Starbucks facing third anti-union case in Michigan

Submitted by intexile on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 5:29pm.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

Starbucks is to begin proceedings Wednesday in a third case in which it allegedly fired a barista because of his union activities.

By Melissa Allison, January 6, 2009 - Seattle Times business reporter
The union lumps keep coming for Starbucks, which was thumped by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last month for unfair labor practices at several New York cafes.

Last week, the company settled a separate NLRB dispute in Michigan and on Wednesday is to begin proceedings there in a third case in which it allegedly fired a barista because of his union activities.

All three cases were initiated by baristas affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a century-old union that has worked for several years to improve conditions for Starbucks workers.

In New York, an administrative-law judge with the NLRB said last month that work rules were unfairly imposed on employees who supported the union. The coffee chain was ordered to give back jobs to three former workers and compensate them for lost earnings. The company also must post notices informing employees of their labor-organizing rights.


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Faced With Snowballing Legal Woes, Starbucks Settles Case Over Lawyer's Illegal Interrogations of Union Workers

Submitted by intexile on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 5:39am.
For Immediate Release:
Starbucks Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World)

Contact: Cole Dorsey- organizer IWW Starbucks Workers Union,
616-540-0243

Faced With Snowballing Legal Woes, Starbucks Settles Case Over Lawyer's Illegal Interrogations of Union Workers

First Labor Board Settlement to Disallow Repeat-Offender Starbucks From Denying Guilt
 
Grand Rapids, MI (Jan. 5, 2009)- Just days after Starbucks suffered a decisive defeat in a lengthy Labor Board trial in New York, the embattled coffee giant has settled a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board here over the unlawful interrogation of baristas by a company lawyer.  The Board investigation was triggered by charges from the IWW Starbucks Workers Union that alleged one of the company's anti-union law firms, Varnum, Riddering, Schimdt, and Howlett, illegally interrogated baristas set to give testimony in a Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration hearing.  In addition to revealing law-breaking from Starbucks' counsel, the settlement is significant as the first where the Labor Board did not allow Starbucks to deny guilt--a sanction for repeatedly violating the rights of baristas seeking secure work hours, a living wage, and respect on the job. The company is still set to stand trial on Wednesday in Grand Rapids on a separate count of illegally firing outspoken union barista, Cole Dorsey.


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Health and Safety Agency Finds Against Starbucks in Michigan

Submitted by intexile on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 6:10pm.
Grand Rapids, MI (12/08/2008)- The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found after trial that Starbucks unlawfully terminated a barista here in retaliation for filing a safety complaint. The barista, a member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union, was retaliated against after complaining about the effects of a perennially leaking roof. The MIOSHA determination comes less than a month before embattled Starbucks faces a trial in Grand Rapids at the National Labor Relations Board over anti-union retaliation.

"Two federal agencies are holding Starbucks accountable in Grand Rapids for wantonly trampling employee rights. Without the IWW Starbucks Workers Union they may have gotten away with it," said Cole Dorsey, the fired barista and union member.


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Starbucks faces another NLRB complaint [AP]

Submitted by intexile on Sat, 10/04/2008 - 9:41pm.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

By LAUREN SHEPHERD - NEW YORK (AP) - Starbucks Corp. is facing another complaint from the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the gourmet coffee chain engaged in unfair labor practices by firing a barista in Michigan.
The complaint, filed last month by the Detroit office of the NLRB, stems from an investigation into a charge made by employee Cole Dorsey earlier this year.

According to the NLRB complaint, Dorsey--a member of the Industrial Workers of the World union at Starbucks--was fired June 6 from his job at a store in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before being fired, Dorsey had been given two prior disciplinary warnings by his store manager.

The complaint alleges that Dorsey received the warnings and was fired because of his "sympathies for and activities on behalf of" the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. The union has been attempting to organize workers at the chain.


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Global Day of Action Will Protest Starbucks’ Anti-Union Terminations

Submitted by coledorsey on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 6:35pm.

Coordinated Actions Across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America Could Be Largest Ever Against Coffee Chain

For Immediate Release:

IWW Starbucks Workers Union, StarbucksUnion.org

Grand Rapids , MI ( 06-30-2008 )- Union members and social activists are gearing up for what may be the largest, global coordinated action against Starbucks ever. Protesters will decry what they see as an epidemic of anti-union terminations by the world’s largest coffee chain. Starbucks and its CEO Howard Schultz have exhibited a pattern of firing outspoken union baristas ever since the advent of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union in 2004 and are demonstrating the same practice against the CNT union in Spain.

"On July 5th people around the world will show Starbucks that we, baristas along with our supporters, will have a voice and Starbucks discrimination and repression of our efforts will not go unchecked", said Cole Dorsey.


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