| Weekend
Edition
September 9/10 , 2006
An IWW Story at Starbucks
Making Work Safer
Through Direct Action
By DANIEL
GROSS and JOE TESSONE
Requests
have been routinely made and ignored for the purchase of a stepladder.
It is vital for our safety that we have a stepladder available
to use for such tasks as changing light bulbs, reaching boxes
on high shelves, and cleaning ceiling tiles. Currently, we are
forced to balance ourselves on unstable café tables to
accomplish tasks in hard to reach places. Our store is not ergonomically
designed and until it is, the purchase of a stepladder would be
a simple solution to a number of safety concerns.
-Excerpted
from an IWW Starbucks Workers Union demand letter and declaration
of union membership served on management by baristas at a Chicago
Starbucks on April 29, 2006Reckless Disregard for Worker Safety
For
years, baristas at the Logan Square Starbucks in Chicago requested
a stepladder to make their job safer. Baristas constantly strained
muscles and risked serious falls to do their job without one. Workers
would hoist themselves up on shelves to reach heavy boxes of coffee
beans stacked out of reach. Toilet paper and other supplies were
locked in a box suspended near the ceiling in the store's bathroom.
To reach the supplies, workers were forced to balance themselves
on the toilet bowl and stand on tiptoes to maneuver the key into
the lock and remove the needed bathroom products. Workers did a
similar balancing act standing on café tables to clean the
ceiling and change light bulbs.
In
addition to the clear health risks stemming from musculo-skeletal
strain and the possibility of serious falls, baristas were downright
annoyed and outraged that Starbucks, a 23 billion dollar company
and the world's largest coffee chain, refused to purchase a simple
stepladder that workers needed. Annoyed but not surprised. After
years of insult and injury on safety and many others issues, a group
of workers at Logan Square decided to join the IWW Starbucks Workers
Union (www.StarbucksUnion.org).
Bringing Solidarity Unionism to Starbucks
The
Chicago baristas were struck by gains Wobbly baristas had made in
New York City since Starbucks had for years remained impervious
to organization by the traditional trade unions. The Industrial
Workers of the World was using the solidarity unionism model to
make both systemic changes at the company and remedy individual
grievances with management. Through direct pressure on Starbucks,
the union had won three wage increases, more secure hours, and had
successfully addressed a diverse array of issues from religious
discrimination to rat infestation.
Solidarity
unionism is a term coined by the great labor activist and author,
Staughton Lynd, to describe a rank and file organization of workers
who fight directly to win demands without resorting to government
certification or union bureaucracy. One of the many benefits of
the solidarity union approach is its scalability. A solidarity union
is simply a group of workers uniting with each other and other workers
in the community and (with the internet) around the world, to apply
direct pressure around issues of concern at work. Therefore, with
some hard work and a willingness to take a stand, baristas anywhere
could join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union to fight collectively
for a better life on the job and an independent voice in society.
Chicago Baristas Go Union
The
night of Tuesday, April 29, 2006, baristas at the Logan Square Starbucks
in Chicago demonstrated the scalability of solidarity unionism by
becoming the first workers outside of New York City to declare their
membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. Workers chose a store
meeting for the action. In addition to the declaration of union
membership, the Wobbly baristas demanded a living wage; secure work
hours; reinstatement of the baristas in NYC illegally fired for
union activity; respect for the right to organize; and health and
safety improvements including the stepladder. IWW baristas now had
a union presence at seven Starbucks stores.
Through
surveillance on workers, Starbucks management was prepared for the
surprise action. Senior managers proceeded to disparage unions in
general and the IWW in particular. One manager even went so far
as to say the union didn't exist as if the red IWW membership cards
in baristas' pockets were figments of their imagination. The bosses
also handed out the preamble to the IWW constitution thinking it
would scare off workers. Members were actually pleased that Starbucks
handed out the document. The preamble is a text that Wobblies are
proud of; it outlines a humane society where workers live in harmony
with the Earth and are free from oppression. A society unlike the
one Starbucks inhabits where its Chairman Howard Schultz is worth
close to a billion dollars and Chicago baristas start at $7.50 per
hour with no guaranteed number of work hours each week.
"It
was called Direct Action, and it comes to us highly recommended."
-Utah Phillips, IWW Folk Singer
Wobblies
are known for good humor in the struggle for industrial freedom.
But one thing the IWW doesn't joke around about is health and safety.
You only get one body and one mind in this life and the boss sure
isn't going to take care of you. After years of needless strain
and balancing acts because the coffee giant was too cheap to buy
a simple stepladder, baristas found themselves in a new workplace
dynamic. Instead of individuals requesting a ladder and being denied
again and again, the workers could fight union.
Direct
Action entails doing what it takes to make things right.
For
example, faced with employer opposition to the eight-hour day, Wobbly
timber workers began blowing a whistle after eight-hours of work
and going home. Essentially, they went on strike each day after
eight hours on the job and the strike lasted until work started
the next day. IWW timber workers won the eight-hour day in this
manner and not through the ballot box or a union official. Direct
Action is about more than winning demands though. It's about how
the demand is won, that is, through workers' own initiative and
self-organization. As Staughton Lynd has pointed out, such activity
is the process through which workers take control of their own destinies
and build towards a General Strike, a decisive historical moment
where workers dramatically alter society by withholding their labor.
The
IWW baristas picked Labor Day in the United States (the authentic
workers' holiday is May 1st), to launch their Direct Action. The
plan was brilliant. First, the union bought a ladder. Next, workers
placed a sticker on both sides of the ladder reading, "Brought
to you by-- IWW Starbucks Workers Union--for a safer, healthier
workplace." The workers knew that when they brought the ladder
to work, Starbucks could respond in one of three ways.
First,
the company could allow the ladder to stay in the store and workers
would have the tool they needed to work safer. The Wobbly baristas
knew that the company wouldn't choose this first option. Starbucks
is waging a fierce and unlawful anti-union campaign that resulted
in a massive complaint from the National Labor Relations Board.
The last thing Starbucks would want was a useful tool that workers
needed with the IWW sticker on it. Allowing such a ladder to remain
in the store would conflict with Starbucks' message that unions
are antiquated and not necessary in Starbucks’ "pro-partner"
environment.
Second,
the company could remove the ladder to rid the store of a useful
gift from the IWW and reinstate the no-ladder status quo. This too
would not be a good option for the company. Jettisoning a useful
tool that workers needed to stay safe would make the company look
bad to workers and to the public. Such a maneuver would conflict
with Starbucks' message that it's a benevolent employer (notwithstanding
the poverty wage and lack of full-time status), while the IWW is
a radical organization outside of the mainstream.
Third,
the company could remove the IWW ladder and purchase a comparable
ladder for the store. While this option wouldn't be perfect for
Starbucks because they'd have to spend money and concede a union
victory, workers predicted this was the way management would go.
After years of being turned down for a simple tool that makes everyday
life at work a whole lot easier, the baristas would have their ladder.
In addition, the company would foot the bill for the ladder, as
it should under the law. The union would then return its ladder
to recoup the cost.
Does Direct Action Get the Goods?
September
4th came around and everything was set to go. Two Wobbly baristas
from the Logan Square Starbucks including one of the authors, Joe
Tessone, were selected to bring the ladder into the store. The contrast
of the reactions to their entry into the store with the ladder was
striking. Management, including a senior human resources official,
looked absolutely shocked and mortified. On the other hand, workers
were beaming with smiles cheek-to-cheek. The absolute power of their
employer, which was first challenged less than a week ago, had been
further eroded and they had set in motion a plan to get the ladder
they needed! Afterwards, Joe's partner in the action, Monica Karpuk,
remarked that this was the most exciting thing she had ever done.
Management
sprang into action running around visibly shaken. Then they moved
outside the store to speak in private. Returning to the store still
distraught, management informed workers that Starbucks could not
accept the union's ladder but that the company would purchase its
own ladder. One hour later, after years of individual requests and
less than one week as union members, the Logan Square baristas had
the ladder they needed for a safer healthier workplace.
The IWW baristas and those acting with them in solidarity still
have much work to do. Starbucks is still far from a decent place
to work and the company continues union-busting with impunity. But
with several key victories under its belt and a commitment to a
powerful organizing model, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union is poised
to continue growing and winning workplace demands.
Only
one thing didn't go according to plan in Chicago. The baristas decided
not to return their ladder to get the money back. They kept it to
remember their Direct Action and to preserve a symbol for the millions
of working people looking for their own ladder to a better life
on and off the job.
Daniel
Gross and Joe Tessone are organizers with
the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. Mr. Tessone is a barista at Starbucks
in Chicago. Mr. Gross is a former barista at Starbucks in New York
City fired for union activity. For more information log on to www.StarbucksUnion.org.
They can be reached at: dgross1959@yahoo.com
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