For Immediate Release:
IWW Starbucks Workers Union

Contact: StarbucksUnion (at) yahoo.com

February 11, 2010

Kati Moore Inspires Starbucks District Managers to Expose High-Level Sexual Harassment

Howard Schultz Still Silent Amid Growing Evidence of a Hostile Work Environment

New York, NY- In a risky departure from the normal chain of command, a group of  Starbucks district managers have authored an impassioned letter to top executives in Seattle demanding that action be taken against a company vice president allegedly engaged in pervasive sexual harassment.  

The letter, which was made available to the IWW Starbucks Workers Union, alleges that Regional Vice President Andrew Alfano has created an unsafe work environment with his behavior and is responsible for the departure of two female regional directors, among many other troubling charges.  

For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers

February 1, 2010

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Workers Rights' Group Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Beverage Distributor Over Alleged Labor Violations

Immigrant Workers Take a Stand for Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay

New York, NY-  A non-profit workers' rights organization filed a class action lawsuit on Friday alleging that a Queens-based drink distributor,
Beverage-Plus, is violating the rights of its immigrant workforce.
The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court on behalf of current and former delivery drivers and warehouse assistants who were allegedly denied minimum wage and overtime by Beverage-Plus, in addition to other rights violations.  The case is an effort of the Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative which is exposing abuses in NYC's food processing sector and was brought in association with law firm Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C.

"My co-workers and I work hard and now we are demanding to be paid according to the law," said Richard Merino, a member of Brandworkers who has been a driver at Beverage-Plus for six years.  "Wage theft is very damaging and we have chosen to tackle the problem by organizing together and taking collective action."

Lawyers for the workers will seek class certification to recover allegedly withheld compensation for current and former Beverage-Plus workers who have worked at the company in the last six years.  Maia Goodell and Anand Swaminathan of Vladeck Waldman are serving as lead counsel.

"Tens of thousands of recent immigrant workers labor out-of-sight in exploitative conditions processing and distributing food to New York's markets and restaurants," said Daniel Gross, the director of Brandworkers.  "Wage theft, abusive treatment, non-existent benefits, and hostility to organizing are endemic in the sector but workers' resolve to assert their rights is strong and growing.  Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain will press on until New York's food processing employees win respect for their human rights and just recognition for their important contribution to our economy and our community."

Brandworkers is a New York-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees.  By providing workers with legal, advocacy, and organizing tools, Brandworkers ensures employer compliance with the law and challenges corporate misconduct in the community.  The Brandworkers Focus on the Food Chain initiative promotes a sustainable food system where workers' human rights are respected.

For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers

January 20, 2010

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Workers Reach Comprehensive Settlement with Prominent Seafood Company

Protracted Grassroots Campaign Saw Over 75 Leading Restaurants Stop Serving Wild Edibles Products

New York, NY- Lawyers filed with a federal bankruptcy judge a global settlement agreement totaling over $340,000 and containing strong workplace protections in a high-profile set of litigation brought by workers against one of New York's leading seafood companies, Wild Edibles, Inc.

The comprehensive settlement comes after a bitterly-contested campaign in which some two-dozen recent immigrant workers and their non-profit organization, Brandworkers, used grassroots actions, media advocacy, and community organizing in an effort to win legal accountability at Wild Edibles, which supplies seafood to some of NYC's most famed restaurants in addition to operating retail seafood outlets.

"We're on top of the world today because more than anything we showed that ordinary workers can get organized, take action together, and win," said Raymundo Lara Molina, a former Wild Edibles employee and member of Brandworkers.

For Immediate Release:
Industrial Workers of the World (NYC)

January 18, 2010

Contact: Liberte Locke, 917-693-7742

Baristas Call on Starbucks to Honor Dr. King with March and Rally

IWW demands that coffee giant pay workers the same premium it pays on other federal holidays

New York, NY- The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) branch here held a march and rally at Starbucks today to call on the corporation to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating his birth. The Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW is demanding that Starbucks pay a holiday premium to baristas who work on MLK Day just as the Seattle-based chain does for five other federal holidays.

November 25, 8am: Workers along with members of the NYC-GMB march to Flaum, a kosher food distributor in Brooklyn, after a Labor Board ruling which ordered the boss to reinstate the workers with back pay. Instead, the boss wrongfully demanded that the workers reauthorize their immigration status and denied them their right to return to work.

The workers had been illegally fired for engaging in a work stoppage over the right to form a labor union and payment in accordance with the law.

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

By A. G. Sulzberger - New York Times, August 18, 2009.

Saying it spends nearly as much on health insurance for its workers as it does on coffee, Starbucks recently announced that it would increase the amount that eligible employees need to contribute to keep their health care coverage.

On Monday evening, newly unionized Starbucks baristas gathered at the company’s regional headquarters in Manhattan to protest the move, which they said would effectively double the cost of their health insurance.

The change would increase the cost of the most basic plan to $20 from $12.50 each paycheck and the annual sign-up cost to $200 from $100, according to Liberte Locke, a barista who has been active in unionization efforts with the Industrial Workers of the World.

“If they’re going to charge us this amount, our pay needs to increase,” she said. She added that a growing number of employees were ineligible for the health insurance because they worked fewer than 20 hours a week.

By Diane Krauthamer

On Wednesday, June 17, members of the New York City IWW protested against the callous layoffs at Havas’ Media Planning Group (MPG), a multimillion dollar media agency whose clients include some of the largest corporations in the world.

MPG recently cut 11 percent of its staff, primarily at its headquarters in New York. But the media giant did not anticipate that one of its former employees, Joseph Sanchez, would publicize their anti-worker practices.

“This extremely profitable corporation laid me off just to put extra money in their pockets,” said Sanchez, who worked in the client accounting department. “Instead of making a living wage, I’m surviving off unemployment benefits and food stamps.”

By Diane Krauthamer

Despite the torrential late spring rain, thousands of workers spent their May Day marching and rallying through the streets of Manhattan, displaying solidarity with workers at home and abroad. New Yorkers celebrated this international workers’ holiday with actions, events, marches and rallies, coordinated by a number of labor unions, community associations, political parties and non-profit organizations. In the spirit of celebration, the New York City IWW marched on Starbucks to demand that the coffee giant treat its workers with respect.

Beginning with a 2:00 pm a rally in the heart of Chinatown, the IWW joined hundreds of individuals from community and labor organizations to demand “Equal Rights for All Workers.” IWW members Stephanie Basile and Vance Hinton delivered powerful speeches on top of the soapbox.

“May 1st is the real Labor Day. They want us to forget that, but we’ll never forget. It was through collective action that those before us made the gains we currently enjoy today,” Basile said.