Starbucks gets a picket from London syndicalists - http://gda.iwa-ait.org/
On Thursday 24th April, Monica, a barista in the central Seville branch of Starbucks, was fired without notice for creating problems with her workmates. She had worked there for a year and a half. She had been active in organising with the CNT and defending her rights. The store manager told her on several occasions that she must have nothing to do with unions. She is a member of the Commerce Union of the CNT, in Spain. The CNT is demanding her reinstatement.
Barely a month later, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, Starbucks fired barista Cole Dorsey on June 6th. Cole had over 2 years of service and was active in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. The National Labor Relations Board in the US has already made the firm rehire two sacked workers in 2006, and are looking at Starbucks latest violation.
Today london syndicalists met the call for an international day of action, and London Solidarity Federation joined with London Industrial Workers of the World to picket a flagship 2 story starbucks in New Oxford St. The picket lasted an hour and turned roughly half of the shops' potential customers away by telling people what Starbucks were up to abroad and at home [in 2005 they were forced to reinstate a sacked IWW member after union action in Leicester]. A reassuringly large number of people from all backgrounds responded by saying they supported the right to organise and believed in unions, and the vast majority who went in were foreign tourists who didn't understand the picketers. Two potential customers were so convinced they dropped their plans for overpriced coffee and actually joined the picket itself!
As the shop began to empty out the manager came out to tell us to leave, which didn't happen, and he was disappointed to discover from the 2 police officers that no laws were being broken either. All in all a successful show of solidarity for the folks on the continent and colonies! |
