DC-IWW and Supporters Picket Starbucks in DC to Support Fired NYC Organizers
Submitted on Thu, 08/31/2006 - 2:25am
On August 28th, 5 members of the Washington DC Industrial Workers of the World (DC-IWW) and several local supporters met at Dupont Circle to stage an informational picket of the nearby Starbucks. Under stenciled picket signs emblazoned with "Starbucks: Rehire Fired Union Organizers!" and "Support the Starbucks Union," they handed out 300 flyers to a very sympathetic public, and distributed more than 20 CDs featuring Noam Chomsky's "Class War" lecture, and anarchist texts from Rudolph Rocker, Ricardo Flores Magon, Petr Kropotkin, and Mikhail Bakunin. Passersby and customers of the shop were asked for their signatures on a consumer petition demanding the rehiring of fired IWW union organizers Dainel Gross, Evan Winterscheidt, Joe Agins Jr., and Charles Fostrom. In 90 minutes, the DC-IWW obtained over 50 signatures. All in all, the event attracted the attention of hundreds in the DC area to the union-busting practices of the largest coffee chain in the world and demonstrated the committment of the Industrial Workers of the World to unionizing for the interests of the working class against arbitrary bosses. The Dupont Circle Starbucks was selected for its location in one of the richest neighborhoods of DC, its numerous clientele, and the dense foot traffic of DuPont Circle, which ensured the highest number of persons engaged by the demonstrators. Before the picket, two members of the DC-IWW informed store workers of the impending protest. They responded positively, one worker chiming, "We support you."
The general mood of the evening was hopeful, as a number of unexpected allies showed their support. The petition signers included former UAW members, persons currently in the employ of other unions (such as UNITE-HERE), government-employed labor arbiters, disgruntled retail employees, and curious onlookers. The action was the first public appearance of the DC-IWW, an organization only a month old and attempting to cement its local presence with a General Membership Branch. IWW demonstration supporters were provided information on how to become involved in the chapter and participated in numerous conversations on union militance, tactics and strategy in English and Spanish.
The informational picket by the DC-IWW was sparked by the recent firing of Daniel Gross, an organizer with the IWW Starbucks Workers' Union. This firing is the last in a series of attempts by Starbucks to purge the chain of the vibrant and successful union that has seized the imagination of New York City Starbucks workers and won a dollar per hour wage raise for all area Starbucks, even those not unionized. Daniel Gross was fired for showing solidarity with former employee Evan Winterscheidt at a union picket line and "not communicating partner morale issues to the Store Manager." From the Industrial Worker, the IWW monthly newspaper, "Last we checked, an employer may not mandate an employee to engage in surveillance of co-worker's protected activities." 
Daniel Gross' termination was not the first attempt by Starbucks to undermine the Starbucks Workers' Union. Starbucks specifically goes after union organizers. Evan Winterscheidt was fired on July 18 and was specifically targetted for his union activity. Charles Fostrom, another IWW member and organizer, was fired for "insubordination" for not willing to work 'off the clock' (without pay). And on December 12, 2005, Joe Agins, Jr. lost his job for an argument he had inside a Starbucks, but not during his working shift.
In the past, Starbucks has tried these union-busting tactics to no avail. The National Labor Relations Board, a government bureaucracy notoriously unfriendly to working people, viewed the case against union-busting in Starbucks so clearly that they demanded the re-instatement of two fired Starbucks employees and members of the Starbucks Workers' Union, Sarah Bender and Anthony Polanco. Working people, when they demand of the company industrial democracy, can overturn the bosses and, as the preamble to the IWW constitution says, form "the structure of the new society within the shell of the old." The DC-IWW intends to continue these informational pickets and demonstrations on a bi-weekly basis, and can be contacted at [email protected].