[R-G] Starbucks Obstructing First US Union Vote

[Richard Menec]

Subject: [Alerts] Starbucks Obstructing First US Union Vote 
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 11:19:15 -0700 (PDT) 

For Immediate Release: Industrial Workers of the World 
June 1, 2004 
Contact: Daniel Gross 
(917) 577-1110 dgross1959 at yahoo.com 


Starbucks Obstructing First US Union Vote 
Workers to Schultz:  What are you so scared of? 

New York, NY-  The Starbucks Baristas Union and community 
members across the country have condemned repeated attempts 
by the company to deny workers a fair vote on the Union.  
While paying lip-service to respecting the choice of employees, 
Starbucks has deployed a variety of crude tactics in an effort to 
defeat the IWW IU/660, which would be the first union certified 
in the United States at the mammoth chain. 

Supporters around the country and internationally are contacting 
Starbucks demanding they live up to their rhetoric.  If Starbucks 
really is a bastion of worker benefits, what is Chairman Howard 
Schultz, who raked in over $17 million last year, so scared of?  
The truth is Starbucks, with its poverty wages and rampant 
repetitive-stress dangers, resembles a sweatshop more than it 
does a decent place to work. 

The IWW released today the text they obtained of a voice mail 
Howard Schultz sent to employees around the company 
regarding the Union which Schultz calls, "very disappointing and 
disturbing. 

"What we have here is classic union busting plain and simple," 
said Benjamin Ferguson, an IWW member working on the 
campaign.  "They are using the same down and dirty tricks we 
see time and time again from highly successful corporations 
unwilling to give their workers a fair shake. 

One the legal front, Starbucks has hired corporate law firm 
Akin Gump to argue that the workers in the store aren't entitled 
to a vote.  Mr. Shultz is fond of saying the Starbucks Mission 
Statement requires respect and dignity for employees but 
apparently that does not include exercising the right to form a 
union. The IWW will face off with Starbucks on June 2 at a 
formal hearing at the National Labor Relations Board. 

"Single stores within retail chains have long been presumed 
appropriate bargaining units," said Stuart Lichten of Kennedy, 
Schwartz, and Cure, the firm representing the Union.  "We are 
confident we will prevail on the merits. 

The company is also using scare tactics to intimidate workers.  
Management has been interrogating certain workers about the 
union while spreading misinformation about joining.  At the same 
time, senior executives are in and out of the store constantly 
making sure workers feel the heat. 

Starbucks earned a record $268 million last year on revenues of 
more than $4 billion.   The company admits that Baristas add 
tremendous value to the enterprise yet refuses to pay them a 
wage that would bring them out of poverty. 

Starbucks workers in New York City announced last month that 
they had formed a union with the IWW IU/660.  The IWW is a 
union for all workers, dedicated to organizing on the job and in 
the community.  IU/660 represents retail workers. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Text of Voicemail Sent by Howard Schultz, Wednesday 
5/19 

Hello partners, this is Howard Schultz with a message for all of you.  
I wanted to take a moment and reach out to you regarding 
information that the company recently received.  A local union in 
New York claims that some of our partners at the 36th and Madison 
location in New York City have expressed an interest in being 
represented by them. 

While I recognize that this is related to only one store, this news is 
very disappointing and disturbing. Over the last 25 years, we have 
worked together to build a great company based on our core values 
and as a result have built great trust in one another.  We always strive 
to live by our mission statement and guiding principles.  And when 
we wrote the guiding principles, we very deliberately put creating a 
great work environment and treating everyone with dignity and 
respect as our highest priority. 

Back in the earliest days of Starbucks, we did what others said could 
not be done - together we built a profitable company while integrating 
a social conscience into everything we do.  We began offering 
comprehensive health care coverage and ownership in the company in 
the form of Bean Stock to full- and part-time partners.  Those 
decisions were landmark events in our company history and our 
compassion for one another truly differentiates us.  We have 
succeeded beyond everyone's wildest expectations. Today, we 
employ more than 80,000 partners around the world.  And our 
commitment to our core values is as strong today as it was in those 
very early days of our company. 

Because of the way we work together, we receive many accolades 
from the outside world for what we do we're on the Fortune 100 Best 
Places to work list, the Most Admired Companies list, and much more.  
That recognition is great, but what's more important is that we have a 
caring and supportive culture.  So please, if you ever have any concerns 
about our company, reach out to your local leadership, write to 
Mission Review, or use any of the many means we have to discuss and 
resolve issues and create a comfortable culture for everyone. 

I want to conclude by simply thanking you for everything you do each 
day, and for being the real heart and soul of Starbucks.  
Thank you.