Union in NYC Wins Battle to Vote on Union at Starbucks

THE
AGRIBUSINESS
EXAMINER
July 14, 2004, Issue #359
Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness
>From a Public Interest Perspective

EDITOR\PUBLISHER; A.V. Krebs
E-MAIL: avkrebs@earthlink.net
WEB SITE: http://www.ea1.com/CARP/
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WOBBLIES (IWW) HAIL "TREMENDOUS VICTORY"
IN WINNING RIGHT FOR STARBUCKS UNION ELECTION

THOMAS GINSBERG, KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS: A group of Starbucks workers has won approval for a union election in their Manhattan [New York] coffee shop.

Members of the Philadelphia-based Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a
century-old leftist organization also known as the Wobblies, said [July 7]
they hope the vote by late July will boost membership nationwide in their
Starbucks Baristas Union.

"This is a tremendous victory," said Daniel Gross, an IWW member and
organizer of the Starbucks Baristas Union at the 36th Street and Madison
Avenue location.

The New York regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB),
backing up the union, ruled Friday that the workers just in store No. 7365
of the 8,000-store chain constituted an appropriate unit for unionizing.
Starbucks wanted workers from 50 stores in lower Manhattan to be eligible to
vote.

The NLRB did side with the company in letting shift supervisors in the store
take part in the vote, which could dilute the union's support.

"We are pleased that it agreed with Starbucks over the union's objections,"
said Audrey Lincoff, spokeswoman for Seattle-based Starbucks.

Voting will be overseen by the NLRB. If the union wins the workers'
endorsement, shop managers are obligated to negotiate with it over workers'
pay, conditions or other issues.

Even before a vote in Manhattan, Gross said the union may file a complaint
against Starbucks over alleged attempts to influence the vote, including
"outright bribes such as giving workers pizza dinners and Mets tickets."

Last week, the company spokeswoman said managers are encouraged to reward
workers regularly with gifts and what she called "random acts of kindness."

The organizing effort is being mounted under the retail-workers branch of
the IWW, whose international headquarters has been located in West
Philadelphia since 2000.

The international endorses the Starbucks effort, but it was unclear how much
extra support it may give, said general-secretary treasurer Alexis Buss.
Unlike traditional trade unions, the IWW is an organization of individual
members, not union locals.