TAKE ACTION: STARBUCKS BARISTA HOMELESS AFTER RACIST DEMOTION

[Omaha Steve]

Simone Gordon and the IWW Starbucks Workers Union
need your solidarity now. Ms.
Gordon is homeless and on welfare after Starbucks
demoted her from shift supervisor to barista on New
Year’s Day and cut her schedule to a stunning five
hours per week. Simone’s store manager, Graham
Higgins, falsely accused Ms. Gordon, who is
African-American, of being racist against white people
and stated that she wasn’t fit to be a leader in the
store. The allegation that Ms. Gordon is racist is so
patently absurd that we won’t even dignify it with a
response. Suffice it to say, Simone Gordon, who has a
white grandparent, opposes all forms of
discrimination.

Starbucks’ discriminatory conduct has caused Ms.
Gordon to lose her home as she struggles to care for
her father who is suffering from a severe heart
ailment. To add insult to injury, store manager
Higgins has been spreading the falsehood that Ms.
Gordon is racist to customers and other employees at
the New Jersey mall where the store is located. One
customer subsequently stated that she didn’t want “the
black girl who doesn’t like white people” to touch her
drink. Ms. Gordon has also been criticized by
management for wearing her hair in an Afro from
time-to-time and for, “the way she talks.” Legal
charges are pending.

Instead of bowing down and quitting as Starbucks
intended her to do in our opinion, Simone Gordon has
chosen to fight back and she has joined the SWU. She
is one of a growing number of precarious workers in
the U.S. and abroad who refuse to be brushed under the
rug like so many workers have. Here is Simone Gordon
in her own words:

“I always had to fight for things- I’ve been on my own
since I was 17. I want to fight because if they’re
going to do this to other people I’m not going to
allow it. No one should be treated like trash. We’re
all human; we’re all taxpayers. No matter our salary,
no matter a fancy car, we’re all equal.”

Please take a stand with Simone Gordon and her union
as we struggle to get her back into the shift
supervisor position with her work hours restored. She
needs that income to get back on her feet and she
needs to be respected at work to regain her dignity.

Please help by taking part in this e-mail action to
Starbucks at the following link: <http://starbucksunion.org/node/1791>.

Thank you for your solidarity. United and looking
beyond the boundaries of our individual workplaces, we
can challenge the logic of corporate supremacy over
our lives and communities. Together we win.

<http://StarbucksUnion.org>

[Dufaeth]

1. Isn't enough here to pick sides

From the facts they present either party could be the racist ones.