Breaking: Baristas at the Largest Starbucks in NYC Honor MLK by Joining the IWW Starbucks Union

[Omaha Steve]

Source: IWW

Submitted by intexile

NEW YORK, NY –On this the 25th anniversary of Dr. King’s holiday, baristas at the Astor Place Starbucks in Manhattan declared their membership in the 105 year old union the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a staunch and outspoken defender of workers’ rights including the right to a living wage and the right to join a labor union.

The baristas represent the latest group of workers at the coffee giant to join the ongoing struggle for a living wage, more consistent scheduling, more affordable health insurance, and to be treated with basic respect and dignity by management. “I am proud to join the growing ranks of retail workers organizing together in the largest and least organized sector of our economy and at a company that has created thousands of low-wage jobs,” expressed Astor Place barista Zelig Stern. In the last year, baristas in Omaha, Nebraska and Ft. Worth, Texas have also joined the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), showing that workers’ concerns with the company are far-reaching.

“We would just like to be treated like human beings and not machines,” said union barista and Astor Place employee Cason Bolton, Jr. in reference to Starbucks’ latest initiative toward mimicking the factory assembly-line, the “Beverage Repeatable Routine.”



Today the workers delivered a collectively written demand letter (see below) to the management of the Astor Place Starbucks. Their demands included a one dollar per an hour raise across the board for all store employees. While the company’s total net revenue for FY 2010 increased by 9.5% to $10.7 billion, according to the company’s Financial Report for Nov. 4, 2010, many of the retail location employees aren’t able to make ends meet with their low Starbucks wages and are forced to live below the poverty line, many requiring public assistance.


Read more: http://www.iww.org/en/node/5322

[xchrom]

1. ...

:applause:

[bread_and_roses]

4. 2nd that! (n/t)

[MannyGoldstein]

2. I believe that Starbucks shut a store down the street

when they tried to unionize. 8th between University and 5th.

This stores a much bigger deal - I hope it works out!

[whathehell]

6. I hope the other Starbucks unionize as well...should discourage the "shut downs". n/t

[Lucky Luciano]

17. I wondered why that store was shut. Such a prime location.

Maybe not as big a revenue generator as it looked since I can imagine a lot of NYU students showing up with their books and laptops for hours on end while only buying a small coffee.

[Brickbat]

3. Solidarity! K&R!

[whathehell]

5. Solidarity!!

:fistbump:

[Teaser]

7. wobblies making progress

nice.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. Solidarity Forever

Congratulations from this former UAW and IBOT member.

I hope this explodes with all Starbucks employees joining. Tim Horton's too.

The company can crush one store. It can't crush all stores.

:thumbsup:

[Cal Carpenter]

9. Signs of class consciousness

Workers of the world unite!!

[RoccoR5955]

10. Workers of the World UNITE! n/t

[freshwest]

11. These folks in NYC clearly know more about American history than most people.

MLK was in Memphis that fateful day after having given one of his most famous speeches to actively march with and support of the striking sanitation workers there. It was the 'I've Been To The Mountaintop' sermon, but when it's quoted the references to why he was there are always left out. Just as his famous speech against the war is little heard. But I heard it, and the message still rings true today.

Probably between the his support of civil rights, the cause of labor and being against the war, was the true reason for his assassination. All of those spoke for mankind and a form of Christianity that has been lost since the Reagan era, which never speaks about these things, except symbolically or only after the Second Coming.

At the same time, the religious right promoted their case that being for civil rights is divisive and against a common view of humanity, that is, color-blind; that unions and labor are nothing but socialism; and that being against the war is being against God's lawfully established government.

Generally, they claim that everything that MLK worked for in his life was communist and godless. In other words, if you speak for these things, you're evil and can't be trusted. Makes it hard for a progressive to find their voice in such a crowd, huh?

As well as being against war, he was for justice for all people. Here's the link to the union website with his last public sermon, delivered on behalf of labor. Check around on the website to see how devoted MLK was to this cause, which the American people have been brainwashed against using as a way to improve their lot; he knew that division always profits those who oppose working people's right to a decent life and all that entails:

http://www.afscme.org/about/1549.cfm

Here's the link to several of the speeches that MLK gave in support of labor unions:

http://www.afscme.org/about/1550.cfm

BTW, here is the anti-war speech that has all but been suppressed in mainstream media, because the MIC owns them. This is what Christianity meant to me at one time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfGsVvnvA9w&feature=player_embedded

Thanks very much for bringing this thread here that shows that some people still remember not just the man, but his mission.


:dem:

[Atypical Liberal]

33. I just learned about this the other day.

I just learned the other day about his work beyond racial injustice. I was shocked. I had no idea of his economic justice and peace movement backgrounds.

I wish the rest of those movies were on Youtube, too.

[freshwest]

36. There are a lot of them actually, but they're not available for downloading.

If you message me somehow, I'll send you the links or anything else you'd like to know, although my experience only goes as far as the typical person who grew up in that era in the South.

All of those things that happened, the faith of MLK and JFK and others, made me the person I am today. We don't have that kind of leadership now. I remember too the horrible things that were said about him at the time, the immense hatred among some people.

It was a scary time when people went one way or the other; they had to make a stand. The draft was still on, there were many killings, a tremendous changes. Some positive, but so much death.

And it was covered by media, but they don't cover this now. I'll never forget it and hope that nothing will ever happen to Obama no matter what problems we have with him. I would never want to see those days again.

:dem:

[Atypical Liberal]

34. Thank you for posting that video.

I have to confess that over the years I have not devoted much time or study to Dr. King or what he said. He died before I was born. I knew, of course, that he was a huge champion for African American causes and racial equality, but being white I never really concerned myself with what he actually said.

I'm watching his anti-Vietnam-war movie right now and I'm nearly in tears. This man was so powerful, and so right. You could re-write what he said for today almost word for word. especially the part about dissent being equated to disloyalty. It's like no one learned anything from 1968 to today.

I wish I could have known Dr. King. I wish I could have spoken to him just once.

[socialist_n_TN]

69. Check out Malcolm X too.............

A little more incendiary, but NOTHING like he was portrayed by the PTBs of the time (and now for that matter). I was a barely teen, southern, white boy when Malcolm was around and even BEFORE I was politically very aware, I didn't see what he was saying was so outrageous. Malcolm mostly spoke about self defense and I didn't hear anything much different than I heard from all the old white guys around me.

[Atypical Liberal]

37. I just finished watching the whole thing.

That speech is breathtaking. I'm speechless. I can't believe I've never seen it before now. I feel ashamed and inspired at the same time.

My God. He could have spoken it today.

After finding out now about his anti-establishment message, I am highly skeptical of his death and the motives behind it. It seems that the 1960's were a time when people of huge great potential for social change were mysteriously killed.

I used to blow all this off as conspiracy theory nuttery. I'm not so sure now.

[freshwest]

38. Well, not so mysteriously. They were killed brutally in public for greater effect.

In other words, domestic terrorism, usually ascribed to the 'lone gun man.' Even the King family says they do no longer believe James Earl Ray was the gun man. It was said the Ray was a racist and wanted to kill King for that reason.

The King family now says that they believe there was a conspiracy to silence him, not merely race hatred. We will never know, really. But bigotry has been a great excuse, while financial interests stand silently in the background, far away from blame.

Americans were, as MLK said in the video, and much like now, on the crux of a movement to free mankind from the ancient enemies of war and poverty and hatred. 'Shock and awe' wasn't just invented for the bombing in Iraq.

Americans were battered emotionally, having watched one progressive leader after another gunned down. And other things were happening, and the hideous violence in Vietnam was just the top of the iceberg.

It doesn't matter in the long run who pulled the trigger, only the cause and effect. Who loses and who benefits. We are still living the legacy of what changed. We used to say 'follow the money.' That holds true and is still a sign of the intention of most of what we see, or more importantly, don't see in media and politics.

There is a quote attributed to FDR, which conspiracy theorists like to pull out, but it may not have been him that said it:

"Nothing happens in politics by accident, if it happens, it was planned that way."

Watching the presidential campaign in 2008, there were too many memories being called up in my mind and heart of those days to be njust an accident. There were too many 'dog whistles' or code words being used. I knew what was calling some of the people together and was horrified, it was relieving a nightmare.

I'll get back to you with the links in a little bit. Thanks for the message.

[Atypical Liberal]

40. That is my feeling also.

The King family now says that they believe there was a conspiracy to silence him, not merely race hatred. We will never know, really. But bigotry has been a great excuse, while financial interests stand silently in the background, far away from blame.

This is what has been dawning on me for years.

It's funny. My whole family is conservative. I was conservative for years. But the older I get, the more liberal I have become. I'm exactly opposite of that old saw that goes, "If you aren't liberal by the time you are 20, you have no heart, and if you aren't conservative by the time you are 40, you have no brain." I was conservative when I was 20, and I'm liberal now at 40. You wouldn't believe the arguments I go round and round with my parents. I've even dropped relatives off of facebook because of it.

But for me, I've just had this creeping, growing cynicism over the years that things are rigged. It's like that scene from The Matrix: "You're here because you know something...what you know you can't explain but you feel it...you've felt it your entire life...that there's something wrong with the world...you don't know what it is but it's there like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."

It is increasingly obvious that there are massive financial interests at play in this world, operating on global scales to insure the security of their interests. I'm certain that these interests have their hooks deeply embedded in governments, even representative governments like our own.

[freshwest]

42. Excellent, good for you. We'll make it.

[Atypical Liberal]

46. the perversion of Christianity

I have been thinking about Dr. King's speech today. I am struck by how there has been such a great perversion of Christianity. Dr. King's idea of Christianity was truly a message of peace, compassion and equality. Today's Christianity seems to me to be about greed and condemnation.

While I have no doubt that Dr. King was a true believer (at least, it seems that way to me), he was also basically masterfully using religion as a tool to drive the masses into a social revolution. It's no wonder someone killed him off. Talk about frightening the powers that be!

[freshwest]

47. I don't believe he used any conscious manipulation as we see in the 'marketing' of faith today.

There was no separation of his faith from his actions. In social respects, his effect on history was very similar to the abolitionists. But it was co-opted.

Nor was it revolution for revolution's sake, but for a better world, the one that Christians such as RFK believed in then. People had a better grasp of western history and the classics, including philosophy such as the Founding Fathers did.

Those elements were purged from the public schools in most regions. I was told years later that it was done purposefully during the Nixon administration. TPTB never wanted to face what they did in the sixties again.

But imagine how our present world might be if:

The march on D.C. had occurred as planned, dealing with the war, and how it was contradictory to spreading peace, love and equality of man as taught by Jesus. In a nation in which the majority attended church and identified themselves as Christians. The reform of society would have been mind bending.

Supposedly, Ho Chi Minh was so impressed with the ideals in the US Constitution that he wanted to lead a revolution like ours agains the French colonizers. No doubt there were many Vietnamese who wanted the French there.

Just as there were plenty of Tories in the Colonies during our revolutionary days. FDR, if he had lived, wanted the world to adopt more of an American model and leave the colonial model.

But instead, for reasons that may no longer matter, the USA allegedly rejected him and he went to Communist nations for help. If this is so, just how many times has this happened for the portection of international business interests, beyond the fair trade?

MLK loved America as we of all differing opinions did, for the promise that the Founders set in front of us. They started a nation that was on its way to becoming that 'more perfect union.' They knew it was not perfect as they wrote the Constitution.

That war, and those wars that followed Vietnam have defamed the best of the western tradition we were being brought up with at that time. For a Christian of that era, there was only one just end to such actions, and he knew that the course we were on would bring calamity to us all and destroy our country.


:dem:

[Atypical Liberal]

49. This is EXACTLY what I was just telling my wife.

The march on D.C. had occurred as planned, dealing with the war, and how it was contradictory to spreading peace, love and equality of man as taught by Jesus. In a nation in which the majority attended church and identified themselves as Christians. The reform of society would have been mind bending.

This is EXACTLY what I was just telling my wife. I told her, "What this guy was doing was wielding religion in an undeniably-compelling argument for social justice. Imagine the power of that! Imagine all the things that religion is used for today and imagine that he had been able to wield it. He could have been, quite literally, like a second coming of Jesus Christ!

It's just a disaster that he was killed.

[freshwest]

51. Wow, you are going to change some things for the better.

I don't expect though, that MLK expected to be the sole leader. He often gave credit to other people. In a hierarchy, the power stays at the top with few, or only one individual.

I think King was about something different, that is the inverse pyramid. In which each person with infinite potential, can spread their creativity upwards to many. And the mathematics of that are lively, instead of what we have now, the masses at the bottom and not seeing as much change as they need in the world.

Our pyramidal organizations are not working for us anymore. They are stifling what we need, a flow of information and effort for the whole, not to a few. They are dead and they need to make trouble to keep thing going.

It's a matter of balance, and we have to confront that there are different forces do make money off of imbalance. Wars are very profitable for a few, obscenely so. Costly for the many, but those who make the money, have the money to pay to convince us.

In another sense, how does one determine one has more, if others have the same opportunities, freedoms and possession? What is wealth, but the accumulation of monies and property in the hands of the few or just one if there are not many more without? This is all thinking from the hierarchical system.

The scripture King quoted of a peaceful world, where each one had their own fruit tree, is not what we've got. It took a lot of action to put things as they are and it's killing all of us. And the planet. It's stupid and unsustainable, really. That's why it must be overcome.

The argument that the current state of affairs with the super rich looking down upon and managing the lives of millions if not billions of people, must be maintained or there will be chaos, is foolishness. We are all living in chaos now, there are just some things we prefer not to look at.

Perhaps there is more fear in the hearts of those who have held back justice and prosperity for so long, than they can ever engender in the poor. Consider the chaos that is created daily with this selfish and destructive system. Chaos in people's lives for the want of decent pay and living conditions, because communities are destroyed by the workings of predatory corporations think nothing of the value of those lives and associations, their lives, their health.

Here is a little more from that time. A lot happened all at once. A lot of chaos, but it didn't come from the side of those seeking peace and justice:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/what_it_was_like_to_be_john_f_kennedy_20110118/

And this is what RFK said after the murder of MLK. Within two months, he too would be silenced.

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Senator-Robert-F-Kennedy-to-the-Cleveland-City-Club-Cleveland-Ohio-April-5-1968.aspx#

None of these men were at the level of the carnival freak show we are being presented in media today. There may have been some speech writing involved, but since I heard these men also speaking off the cuff, I can tell you these were real people who believed in what they said. They weren't trying to sell something. They were exactly what they said they were.

We are still their equal, never forget that. We can do what we need to do. It will look differently. The heart is what matters as well as our intent. We'll get there.


:dem:

[Atypical Liberal]

52. I'm sensing fear in some of this.

You know what I'm seeing in some of these post-MLK speeches? Fear:

"Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by his assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people."

One can easily read between the lines here - this is a not-so-subtle message to those who might have risen up in anger at MLK's assasination. "Hey, guys, nonviolence, eh? Remember the non-violence stuff he was talking about???"

I wonder how much fear there was of a violent uprising in response to MLK's assassination?

[freshwest]

53. I watched on live TV as Robert Kennedy stopped his speech to his supporters to announce the news.

There wasn't any fear of a violent uprising happening.

There was a violent uprising.

As far as saying it was not the will of the people, it was the will of a minority of the people. The upstanding members of the black community stayed locked in their homes.

But it's not like this country hasn't had white riots attacking blacks, burning down entire towns in the past.

Fear was in the minds of whites and there were a number of concessions given, until a new game started.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.#Riots

Later.

[Atypical Liberal]

60. I watched most of those movies last night.

I was brought to tears by many of them. Especially the guy who, after one of the speeches, told his wife to have his kids wait up for him, and when he got home he was shot by a KKK sniper and bled to death in front of his wife and kids in their driveway. And the bastard that did it stayed free for 30 years until they could finally get a jury to convict him.

[freshwest]

63. Yes, Medgar Evers. I ran to ask my father if someone would shoot us in our own front yard.

Even though I'm white, I was terrified at the news and had to get his advice when he arrived home. It hit home to me in a way that the following events had not. Although he assured me we were in no danger where we lived, it began a series of discussions. My father was a believer in the Golden Rule and gave us examples of how it was the basis of all religions, with their versions.

Because Evers was killed in front of his family, at his own home, where a person should be safe. He was murdered for what he literally was, a black man. That which God had made him.

As I grew up, when 'Christians' made racist comments, I remarked that their argument was not really with blacks. It was with God, who created them. I didn't have to listen to that trash again.

What was as chilling about the murder of Evers, was that he was killed for doing what was legal within the bounds of free association and necessary within a civil society. Evers was working peacefully toward what he believed was a Godly thing, equality.

He was a member of an organization that had its place in society, just as churches and civic clubs did. My father was involved in many civic and community affairs organizations.

Soon enough, John Kennedy was killed, my step-mother and sister and I were weeping at what we were seeing on the television, as the nation went through a grieving process similar to 911. Day after day, and we watched. Even as Oswald was gunned down 'in our living room' so to speak, it was all so immediate.

Our grief over seeing little John Jr. brought up my father's personal views, some of them quite unexpected. I'll message you about them, they were strong and angry, drawn from closer to home.

Regarding the decades of justice delayed and in most cases, more honestly, justice denied. As far as more recent complaints of 'jury nullification,' that was quite common in those days. The evidence was clear, the cases straight forward. That is where the black community learned, despite their hopes, that the legal system under the 'states' rights' crowd was not their friend.

Because those white jurors looked at the families of the slain and did not see human beings, but only animals fit for the slaughter. It was a terrible time and children are not being taught of it. Some say they shouldn't be. I think they should, not as an example of white guilt, even though the legal system was 'white.'

It was about looking someone in the face and denying their humanity. That's a deep spiritual problem. The words 'Namaste' and 'Aloha,' which are acknowledgments that one comprehends the divine in another human, comes to mind.

It wasn't the first time blacks had been forcefully kept out of having a say in their lives. I remember on day my father was working outside and said 'I'm sweating like a ___ on election day.' I asked what that meant and he explained about the practices of the night riders and voter intimidation. My family was honest with me about what blacks had suffered from whites in the old south.

A lot of what was done has been whitewashed and their perpetrators given more respect than should be in some circles. That 'good old days' sentimentality. While many were oppressed, there were good days for some. But worse, since when is terrorism, rape, theft, murder and torture being committed a good thing? Is it all based on who does it? That way of thinking is insane.

Hatred, though, always finds a new target, provided by power and their media. It's always a 'what goes around comes around,' and I saw that early on. It didn't make sense that one group should suffer while another lorded over them, not then and not now. Later.

[Scruffy1]

59. I hear you loud and clear

For years I was pretty apathetic and spent most of my time working, raising children and playing with toys. It seems like the neocons have actually been a boon to the progressives by polarizing the population. Now I spend all of my spare time studying, organizing workers and anti-war groups. What MLK said about the pittance spent on the poor compared to the amount spent on the military is even more true today. The really vexing question to me is how did Christianity get tied up with militarism, guns and money? Oh yes I'm a dues paying member of the IWW also.
So while I don't recommend trying to change peoples minds who espouse conservative views because its pretty much like Thomas Paine said about arguing with a man who has given up on reason is like giving medicine to a dead man, change does happen, but it usually comes from within. The only point in public debate is to win over those who haven't made up their mind.

[freshwest]

64. Cheers and thanks for telling us your story. Glad to meet you.

[socialist_n_TN]

70. Your last sentence is EXACTLY what I feel.........

Of course, I liked the rest of it too :), but that last sentence was spot on for me. Argue your points passionately FOR THE UNDECIDED!

[amyrose2712]

12. Solidarity!! (Can I still say that if I have never been in a Union?)

[socialist_n_TN]

28. ALL of us are in the one big "unofficial" union.............

of the working class, IMO! Or at least we SHOULD be.

[freshwest]

43. The human union!

[freshwest]

39. Sure you can!

[freshwest]

41. amyrose2712,

MLK wasn't a union member, but listen to what he says here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBodqhUGoq0

[Odin2005]

13. The ONE BIG UNION!!!

:woohoo:

[Scruffy1]

14. Solidarity forever.

[RufusTFirefly]

15. Hooray for the Wobblies! Huzzah for Big Town!! Solidarity!! n/t

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. !

:applause:

[swilton]

18. Solidarity Forever

[barbtries]

19. my daughter was a barista at starbucks

my ex-DIL a manager. you go.

[GodlessBiker]

20. Love the Wobblies.

[marmar]

21. Los trabajadores del mundo unitan !!!!!

[freshwest]

48. YAY!!!

:hi:

[Kingofalldems]

22. K and R For the union

[blondeatlast]

23. Union YES! Outstanding. nt

[54anickel]

24. Wonderful news! K&R n/t

[Iggo]

25. Great!

:thumbsup:

[Jackpine Radical]

26. WooHoo!

There needs to be a revitalized international workers' movement. Here's a start.

[socialist_n_TN]

27. DAMN! I love seeing the Wobblies making a .........

comeback. In all of labor history, they've shown up STONG! Good to see that name in labor news again.

[annabanana]

35. They are wonderful. . . n/t

[earcandle]

29. Yes! What a great tribute! The Wobblies are back in town!

[burning rain]

30. Good for them, & a fitting way to honor MLK.

He after all died working in solidarity with beaten-down Memphis sanitation workers, members of AFSCME. I know that our friends on the right want to make MLK out to have been a conservative who just wanted to get rid of de jure segregation and let the market work its magic, but I am here to recover things from their absurd memory hole.

[AllyCat]

31. I might actually buy their coffee if they were unionized.

Otherwise, there is not much reason to buy their coffee.

[freshwest]

50. I don't buy their coffee, but I like their other stuff. Here's a bit of their labor history:

Starbucks workers in seven stores have joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as the Starbucks Workers Union since 2004.<114>

According to a Starbucks Union press release, since then the union membership has begun expanding to Chicago and Maryland in addition to New York City, where the movement originated.<115><116> On March 7, 2006, the IWW and Starbucks agreed to a National Labor Relations Board settlement in which three Starbucks workers were granted almost US$2,000 in back wages and two fired employees were offered reinstatement.<117><118><119>

According to the Starbucks Union, on November 24, 2006, IWW members picketed Starbucks locations in more than 50 cities around the world in countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, and the UK, as well as U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco,<120> to protest the firing of five Starbucks Workers Union organizers by Starbucks and to demand their reinstatement.

Some Starbucks baristas in Canada,<121> Australia and New Zealand,<122> and the United States<123> belong to a variety of unions.

In 2005, Starbucks paid out US$165,000 to eight employees at its Kent, Washington, roasting plant to settle charges that they had been retaliated against for being pro-union. At the time, the plant workers were represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers. Starbucks admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.<114>

A Starbucks strike occurred in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 23, 2005.<122> Organized by Unite Union, workers sought secure hours, a minimum wage of NZ$12 an hour, and the abolition of youth rates. The company settled with the Union in 2006, resulting in pay increases, increased security of hours, and an improvement in youth rates.<124>

In March 2008, Starbucks was ordered to pay baristas over US$100 million in back tips in a Californian class action lawsuit launched by baristas alleging that granting shift-supervisors a portion of tips violates state labor laws. The company plans to appeal. Similarly, an 18 year-old barista in Chestnut Hill, MA has filed another suit with regards to the tipping policy. Massachusetts law also states that managers may not get a cut of tips.<125><126> A similar lawsuit was also filed in Minnesota on March 27, 2008.<127>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks#cite_note-147

It looks as if they have no big argument with unions as a whole. I know a variety of people employed by them and they seem to be a fairly progressive group of people. But it's great to see the IWW and unionizing make the news favorably. We need more union jobs and working wages for people, no matter what job they have.


:dem:

[AllyCat]

54. Thanks for the info. I don't really like their coffee, but would feel better

about buying from them over someone else if they were union employees.

[freshwest]

55. I can't drink their coffee. It may just me weird old me, but...

It tastes like it's burnt and smells like it has tobacco in it. Since I don't smoke, it seems very gross. I like their TAZO teas, chai lattes, stuff like that.

The baristas just seem like great people working there. With service folks, it's important to show them respect and be friendly, you never know if the last person was a jerk.

One barista there said she took the job solely for the health insureance. It was a big deal when that was announced that they'd provide that as generally food service doesn't offer it.

The other people I know in the company work at corporate and are liberal politically, community minded, etc. Anyway, WTG, IWW!

[harmonicon]

56. Union or not, I bet it still tastes like shit.

I basically stopped going to star bucks at all since the time I had to throw out a full cup of coffee that was just undrinkably disgusting. I've had better gas station coffee than the star bucks average.

[AllyCat]

62. It's overroasted. Tastes burned.

A coffee guy in my town that roasted and brews his own stuff says they deliberately over roast it so it tastes the same in Miami as it does in Seattle. It's not good. I always have to put cream in it.

[harmonicon]

65. Yeah, that's exactly the problem.

Times I've been since (when it's the only thing around), I stick to espresso drinks. I guess that's what most people do, but I don't even understand why they'd sell someone a black coffee if it's undrinkable.

[northzax]

66. cause they sell 20 million cups a year?

sure, the real money and profit is in the lattes, but there's an awful lot of black coffee sold.

[harmonicon]

71. What are people doing with it? It can't be consumed by mouth. nt

[geardaddy]

32. Solidarity! n/t

[Anarcho-Socialist]

44. Respect for the Wobblies from a Marxist n/t

[Kurovski]

45. K&R. (nt)

[Norrin Radd]

57. kr

[onestepforward]

58. K&R!

[Dappleganger]

61. Way to go!!

Solidarity all the way!!

[martymar64]

67. Go Wobblies!

:toast: :party: :smoke: :beer: :thumbsup: :loveya: :grouphug: :fistbump: :headbang: :woohoo: :patriot:

[ProudDad]

68. Way to Go Wobs!!!

www.iww.org