Celebrating six months of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union in the Twin Cities

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.southsidepride.com/2009/02/articles/Celebrating_Starbucks_Union.html

by Erik Forman
& Aaron Kocher
published Feb. 2, 09

On a freezing but bright Minnesota morning, on Jan. 8, baristas gathered on the sidewalk in front of the Franklin and Nicollet Starbucks in Minneapolis.
Mittens clutched the splintery handles of picket signs. The baristas started to chant, “Starbucks Union, here to stay; these lattes are union made!”

Almost six months prior, in the first public action of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union in Minnesota, baristas at the Mall of America Starbucks had stopped work to protest the closure of 600 stores. A week earlier, barista Erik Forman had been fired for discussing unionization with his peers. Despite the firing, the idea stuck, and baristas at the Franklin and Nicollet Starbucks soon joined their fellow workers at the Mall of America as public union members.



After six months the growth of the union was evident as workers from several Minneapolis locations came together to give Starbucks a “Big Review.” Standing almost 6 feet tall, the “Review” was indeed “Big.” Aside from the tongue-in-cheek wordplay, the action had special meaning for Starbucks workers.

One union barista ex-plained, “Normally, baristas are nervous about getting their reviews. Management always finds some way to devalue our hard work. The most you get for a raise is 30 cents. Most people aren’t so lucky, getting 20 cents or less. It doesn’t nearly keep up with the cost of living, but there’s not much you can docommunication is one way. We started a union in order to have a voice, and this action shows us talking back.”

Over the last two weeks, the Twin Cities Starbucks Workers Union gathered input from baristas locally and across the U.S. through an online survey, scoring the company on a scale of 1-3 (the same as Starbucks’ own review system). According to the union’s review, Starbucks scored a dismal 0.6, with baristas alleging illegal misconduct in many categories, including discriminatory hiring practices, contracting with sub-minimum wage plantations in the Third World and disrespecting labor law.


FULL story at link.