BREAKING IWW NEWS - Gainesville IWW members file for Union Recognition at Ward's Supermarket

As of 8am Tuesday morning, workers in the Natural Foods Dept. at Ward's Supermarket (located in Gainesville, FL) have filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. This petition is a step forward in a months-long campaign of the Gainesville IWW. The coming days will be challenging and we are counting on the full support of the community to win. We will provide updates re: the campaign as they develop.

If you have any questions about the campaign, feel free to call us at 352-246-2240 or email gainesvilleiww [at] riseup.net.

http://www.iww.org/en/node/4493

Starbucks Settles Claim With NLRB

Starbucks Corp. has agreed to a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board on charges of anti-union activities at its Mall of America store that stemmed from the July firing of a barista who tried to organize workers.

The settlement agreement is the third nationally the Seattle-based corporation has reached with the NLRB concerning alleged efforts to stop workers from joining a union.

It comes in the wake of the August reinstatement of barista Erik Forman, who still is trying to organize Starbucks workers at Twin Cities stores into a union called the Starbucks Workers Union.

Forman claimed Starbucks said it fired him for discussing a warning for showing up late with a coworker. But it was really for his union organizing activities, he said.

After he was fired, Forman filed a charge of unfair labor practices with the NLRB. The board concluded there was sufficient evidence the company violated the National Labor Relations Act.

Marlin Osthus, NLRB acting director in Minneapolis, said the board found Forman's and other workers' activities were protected under the law.

When Starbucks rehired Forman, it said the firing was "ill-considered."

"We view this settlement of the NLRB charge as confirming the steps we already took to make things right in this situation," Starbucks said in a statement. In settling, the company didn't admit to violating the law in any way.

The charges ranged from interrogation of union activists, threats against workers and surveillance of union organizing. In the settlement, Starbucks says it will not engage in any of these activities.

The company also agreed to post a notice for 60 days in its Mall of America store telling workers of their rights to join, form or assist a union.

The settlement also requires Starbucks to give Forman back pay for lost wages due to his termination.

"I'm definitely happy to be back at work," Forman said. "I'm even more happy to be back on the shop floor to continue organizing with coworkers to earn a living wage, for guaranteed hours and for other positive changes."

Julie Forster can be reached at 651-228-5189.

Daniel Gross
Organizer
IWW Starbucks Workers Union
www.StarbucksUnion.org
Ph:(917) 577-1110
Fx:(917) 591-6128
dgross@iww.org

The long arm of RNC security reaches IWW at the MOA

By David Seitz , TC Daily Planet - September 04, 2008

Members of the Twin Cities Industrial Workers of the World reported being detained by police on a Hiawatha Light Rail Train at the Mall of America after peacefully gathering Sunday to support re-instated co-worker who works at the mall.

The workers met at 1 p.m. at the 27th Ave. and Lake St. stop to celebrate with Erik Forman, a barista at a Mall of America Starbucks who successfully contested his termination, which he said was an illegal move to suppress his union activity. While there were many Minneapolis and Metro Transit Police present at the gathering, Forman and fellow IWW member Jake Bell said the group’s police liaison was able to make clear to police the peaceful nature of the gathering.

Following the rally, many boarded the train with Forman as he returned to work.

“I invited anybody who wanted to come to come with me to the Mall of America, to see the first union Starbucks in Minnesota and the first union shop in the mall, to buy a cup of coffee and to take a look around,” Forman said.

When the train reached the Bloomington Central Station, Bell said, Bloomington police gathered at the station pulled the liaison off the train.

“The police told him that we could go into the mall as long as we didn’t have signs,” Bell said. “And he made clear that no, we weren’t going to picket. The cop said that was cool, and we kept going.”

When the train reached the Mall of America stop, however, Bell and Forman say there was a line of Plymouth police in riot gear waiting for them. Bell said the police were accompanied by mall management.

“They said anyone who stepped out would be arrested,” Bell said. “They detained all of the people who were on the train, even who weren’t involved in the rally.”

After twenty minutes, the train continued its journey with all the mall-bound passengers still on board. When Forman and others who needed to report to work, and people who weren’t involved tried to negotiate, Forman said they were told they could walk to the Mall from the 28th Avenue station.

When contacted, a representative of the Plymouth Police said officers were working in conjunction with Bloomington Police. A representative of the Bloomington Police Department deferred to the Joint Information Center, which is managing law enforcement information across and between jurisdictions in the metropolitan area during the Republican National Convention

Sergeant Palmer of the Joint Information Center offered a different account. After participants in the IWW gathering got on the train, he said, law enforcement contacted mall management.

“The mall said, ‘we do not want these people here at the mall,’” said Palmer. “The train stopped before the Mall of America [at 28th Ave.] and these people were told, ‘this train is not going to the Mall of America, you can continue on foot.”

When asked about reports that the train did indeed continue to the mall, where passengers were then detained, Palmer replied, “I don’t know about that, because I wasn’t there, but that wasn’t what I was told.”

Mall of America spokesperson Dan Jasper said the group was asked to leave because it was in fact demonstrating.

“The Mall of America is private property,” Jasper said. “The group was treated fairly, equally and with dignity, and asked to leave the premises. We just don’t allow demonstrations.”

Asked about collaboration with law enforcement, Jasper said the mall “works in partnership with all local organizations.”

Forman said the group made clear that it planned no demonstration, and that this response from mall management and law enforcement was deeply troubling.

“We were very surprised,” Forman said. “We weren’t doing anything illegal. We weren’t there to protest. We were there to go to the mall, and in fact to do shopping like any other tourist. So it had to be political, and I’m fairly sure it’s illegal to ban someone from your property because of their political beliefs.”

Starbucks Goes Union in Minnesota

Twin Cities, MN- Baristas at the Mall of America Starbucks walked off the café floor today and delivered a demand letter to management calling for just treatment of all employees affected by Starbucks’ closure of stores nationwide. The surprise job action comes in the wake of the coffee giant’s announcement that it will close 600 stores, including 27 in Minnesota.

The baristas demanded an option to transfer to other stores and a fair severance package for affected workers. Starbucks reportedly plans to give workers just one month notice before laying them off with a paltry two weeks’ pay The company will insist that some baristas transfer and will revoke severance pay if transfer offers are refused.

The protesting baristas are members of the Starbucks Workers Union, which is a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union. Starbucks previously backtracked on its refusal to disclose which locations would be shuttered after the union and others condemned the company for leaving workers in a nerve-wracking limbo.

The store action makes the Mall of America location the first Starbucks in Minnesota, and the first store in the Mall of America, to have a public union presence.

Erik Forman, a barista at the store recently fired for union activity, said, “With the skyrocketing cost of living, workers have no other choice than to stand up for improvements on the job. The alternative is a continued decline into poverty and a degraded quality of life for working families. But this doesn’t have to happen. Our message is hope- even at Starbucks in the Mall of America, we can organize and fight!”

While portraying itself as a ‘socially-responsible’ employer, Starbucks pays baristas a poverty wage of $7.60/hr. In addition, all retail hourly workers at Starbucks in the United States are part-time employees with no guaranteed number of work hours per week. According to Starbucks figures released to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 40.9% of its employees (including managers) are covered by the company health care package, a lower percentage than the oft-criticized Wal-Mart, which insures 47% of its workforce.

Since the launch of the IWW campaign at Starbucks on May 17, 2004, the company has been cited multiple times for illegal union-busting by the National Labor Relations Board. The company settled two complaints against it and is awaiting a decision by a judge in New York on more than 30 additional rights’ violations. Starbucks’ large anti-union operation is operated in conjunction with the Akin Gump law firm and the Edelman public relations firm.

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The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is a grassroots organization of over 200 current and former employees at the world's largest coffee chain united for secure work hours and a living wage. The union has members throughout the United States fighting for systemic change at the company and remedying individual grievances with management. The SWU has been especially active in New York City, Chicago, and Grand Rapids.

Union baristas, bussers, and shift supervisors have fought successfully toward improved scheduling and staffing levels, increased wages, and workplace safety. Workers who join the union have immediate access to co-workers and members of the community who will struggle with them for a better life on the job.