For Immediate Release:

IWW Starbucks Workers Union
Media Contacts:
Aaron Kocher - 612-220-6454
Liberte Locke - 917-693-7742

July 28, 2009

IWW Starbucks Union Condemns Starbucks Doubling Health Insurance Costs Health Coverage Cuts Come Amidst Soaring Profits

Starbucks, amid massive profits, announced on Monday that it will slash at employee health care benefits. The company announced that premiums for its most economical employee health care package will nearly double, along with across the board increases in out-of-pocket expenses. This slap in the face to workers comes just one week after the announcement of $256 million in profits for the quarter, far exceeding internal and Wall Street expectations.

These cuts are an insult to Starbucks workers, and the thousands of workers who have been laid off in the last year. The increased costs of health benefits will be a barrier to many workers thinking of enrolling, forcing them to make the hard decision between health care coverage and feeding their families.

We expect more from Starbucks as a leading Fortune 500 company that builds its brand image on its treatment of its "partners", what it calls employees. Starbucks has a responsibility to provide affordable, quality healthcare to its workers, who are responsible for its enormous profits. Instead, Starbucks continues to use health care benefits as a marketing tool, while actually covering a lower percentage of its workforce than the notoriously unethical Wal-Mart.

Starbucks has repeatedly shown that it cannot be trusted to compensate us fairly. We believe as workers we must organize together to hold Starbucks accountable, and give us the respect and dignity we deserve.

About the IWW Starbucks Workers Union:

The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is an organization of over 300 current and former employees at the world's largest coffee chain united for secure work hours, a living wage, and respect on the job. The union has members throughout the United States and Canada, fighting for positive change at the company and defending baristas treated unfairly by management.

Québec City, July 14, 2009—On Monday morning, the Starbucks Worker’s Union, which is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), submitted a request for union certification to Commision des relations de travail to represent the employees of the Germain-des-Prés Starbucks, in the borough of Ste-Foy, in Québec City. Recent changes to how the work schedule is managed and new requirements regarding employee availability convinced the fifteen baristas—mostly students—to unite and defend their interests before an inflexible and arrogant employer. 

“Starbucks is sort of the McDonald’s of the coffee world. They offer low pay and little job security, but until now, at least our work hours were flexible, which was great for students working part-time,” states union member Simon Gosselin, adding “Our union was formed mainly to fight a clause that requires shift supervisors to work a minimum of 24 hours a week and baristas to work at least 16 hours. This is a terrible change. Because of it, the 6 current shift supervisors will be demoted and they’ll take a 10% pay cut and lose their benefits.”

Since 2004, Starbucks has been the target of an organization campaign led by the IWW, an alternative union mainly active in the United States, but also in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. “Starbucks claims to be a socially responsible employer that respects communities and contributes to economic development,” states IWW spokesman Mathieu Jean. “But with its unsteady and poorly-paid jobs and frequent infringements of workplace safety standards, Starbucks has more of a tendency to impoverish communities and lower working conditions.

Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the IWW. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

Originally posted at CBC News, Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Employees at a Starbucks franchise in Quebec City filed a request to unionize with Quebec's labour relations board on Monday.

If successful, they would become the first workers employed by the coffee chain to unionize in the province.

Employee Simon Gosselin said the move was sparked when Starbucks made "unfair" changes to working conditions. He said the staff, comprised of mostly student workers, was being forced to work at least 24 hours a week or be fired.

“I was working between 12 and 16 hours, most of the employees were doing it as well, and none of us will be able to do that anymore,” said Gosselin.

The workers have aligned themselves with the Industrial Workers of the World, a large international union that has butted heads with Starbucks in the past.

Quebec City Starbucks Baristas Steamed over New Scheduling Demands

Quebec City, Canada – Steamed over unreasonable new scheduling demands and deteriorating working conditions, baristas at the Germain-de-Prés Avenue Starbucks filed for union accreditation Monday, becoming the first store in Canada to affiliate with the Starbucks Workers Union, a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. The Labor Relations Commission of Quebec will grant the union accreditation after verifying their authorization cards in the next few days.

Policy changes related to Starbucks’ new “Optimal Scheduling” program, one of a slew of recent schemes intended to slash labor costs, provided the main impetus for unionization. Under the new policy, Starbucks requires nearly around-the-clock availability from workers, while refusing to guarantee a single work hour each week.

Workers at Streetlight / Porchlight Youth Shelters are asking for support from Fellow Workers in the IWW in an escalation campaign against Janus Youth Programs. The workers have been in wage re-negotiations with Janus since January but the negotiations have been shaky since the beginning.

Janus has repeatedly insisted that they don’t have to bargain and have refused to put forward any counter-proposals that would allow for the modest demands that the Union is seeking. Janus has denied the overwhelming majority of Information Requests throughout the course of negotiations as well, further hampering the negotiations. Attempts to reach out to the National Labor Relations Board have been fruitless as well despite evidence of “bad faith bargaining” on behalf of Janus.

The Union has dropped several of the original demands including a Spanish speaking pay differential in order to focus on a Cost Of Living Adjustment (if Janus provides it for other non-union Janus employees) and a raise for the On-Call (Sub) positions when they reach Bargaining Unit status. Janus’ last communication to the Union was that they were done with negotiations and that workers should wait until next year when the full contract expires to re-negotiate.

The first step in escalation was to have Portland IWW members and other local allies put pressure on Janus through a phone and email blast. The next step is to ask FW’s from across the world to do the same.

Below is a rough draft script for when making phone calls or sending emails. Phone calls are most effective but emails help as well. We are trying to hit them Monday (August 3rd) through Wednesday (August 5). Please take some time and make a couple calls during those days to help out workers at Streetlight / Porchlight Youth Shelters. If you have any questions or would like to get more involved please contact Chris at chrisagenda@gmail.com.

UNIVERSAL LABEL GRAPHIC
The following Motion was passed unanimously by the members of the International Solidarity Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World on July 25, 2009.
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Portions of this Motion are addressed to the SweatFree Communities and the AFL-CIO Union Label Committee. Both are convening in September.
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Where as… there is a viable global apparel union organizing drive spearheaded by workers in the Export Processing Zones and Free Trade Zones producing apparel for the North American consumer market. Policies that leverage the high expectations for workers rights in North American communities and the solidarity of workers in North America through licensing and procurement are a necessary component of this organizing drive.

Be it resolved… that the ISC of the IWW commend SweatFree Communities on its annual conference to be held in Detroit MI on September 11- 13, 2009 and recognizes that SFC Executive Director Bjorn Claeson has worked persistently to maintain openness and substantive dialogue within the community of North America activists supporting global apparel union organizing.

Disclaimer: This is not an IWW action; it is being posted in solidarity.  

Workers staging a sit-in at the soon-to-close Vestas wind turbine plant on the Isle of Wight are being starved out by police.

The police, many inside the factory and dressed in riot gear, have denied food to the workers who took over the factory offices last night, to protest about the closure of their factory. The police, operating with highly questionable legal authority, have surrounded the offices, preventing supporters from joining the sit-in, and preventing food from being brought to the protestors.

Around 20 workers at the Vestas Plant in Newport, on the Isle of Wight, occupied the top floor of offices in their factory to protest against its closure which will result in over 500 job losses.

By Daniel Gross - Originally published on Znet, June 30, 2009

The EFCA Debate

The labor movement is dedicating much of its energy to passing the law known as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA has three provisions: 1) increased liability for illegal union-busting during certain critical organizing periods; 2) adding majority sign-up as another mechanism to certify a union alongside the election method; 3) implementing a binding arbitration option if a first contract cannot be agreed upon by a union and an employer.

From the perspective of the corporate CEOs and their special interest front groups, EFCA is all wrong, especially majority sign-up and binding arbitration. Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot, probably reflected the sentiments of many CEOs on EFCA when he lamented that: "This is the demise of a civilization. This is how a civilization disappears."