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Successful Global Day of Action Against Starbucks

On Apri 24, Monica, a barista affiliated with the Sindicato de Comercio de Sevilla of the Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo, was fired in response to her continual union activity. Some days later, on June 6, Cole Dorsey, delegate of the Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW in Grand Rapids, Michigan (United States), was fired while preparing actions to protest the firing of Monica and the anti-union discrimination of his workplace.

In response IWW and CNT-AIT called for a Global Day of Action against Starbuck's union busting.
Total success for the first Global Day of Action against Starbucks

Syndicalists and activists demonstrated in front of more than 300 outlets of the chain, in more than 80 cities in 20 countries, in protest against Starbuck’s union busting in Spain and the US.

On Saturday, July 5, 2008, syndicalists and activists around the world took to the streets to protest against the anti-union policies of the coffee multinational, Starbucks. In Spain the CNT-AIT concentrated in front of some 20 sites in Seville, Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. They distributed hundreds of leaflets to workers and consumers during the informational pickets.

The American continent was plagued by protests. In the United States the IWW organized actions in Pheonix, New York, Grand Rapids, Philadelphia, Rochester, Burlington, Salt Lake City, Boston, Fresno, Tempe, Los Angeles and Chicago.

In Brazil, the COB-AIT, due the impossibility of gathering in the shops, which are in privately owned shopping malls, opted to carry out rapid actions and leaving the place and informing the public later on the outside. In Chile, the Collective Voz Negra held several actions in Santiago de Chile to repudiate the anti-union practices of the multinational. In Argentina, the FORA-AIT organized pickets in Buenos Aires with the support of Red Libertaria.

In Europe, aside from Spain, activities were especially intense in Germany. The FAU-IAA, German section of the International Workers Association, organized pickets in front of 40 establishments in 16 cities, among them: Aachen, Berlin, Bonn, Braunschweig, Bremen, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Munster, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Wuppertal. In Switzerland, Systembruch realized a picket and leafletting in Zug, and the FAU-Bern union held two demonstrations in Berne. In Austria, the FAS union leafleted workers and consumers in the eight establishments of the multinational in Vienna. In the United Kingdom, the fellow workers of the Solidarity Federation (section of the IWA in the UK) and the IWW, held pickets at several shops in London, Brighton, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol. In Ireland, the Workers Solidarity Movement rallied some 50 activists in Dublin who distributed hundreds of leaflets at 5 outlets. Similar actions took place in Belfast (with the Organize! group) and in Cork. In Poland, the Union of Syndicalists of Poland (ZSP) picketed the headquarters of the AmRest – American Restaurants company that manages places like Pizza Hut, KFC and Starbucks, and sent a letter to the bosses demanding the reinstatement of the fired workers. Starbucks still is not implanted in Poland but forsees the opening of a coffee shop at the end of this year. In Russia, CRAS-AIT reported that anarcho-syndicalist militants blanketed the Starbucks stores in Moscow with posters making reference to the anti-union policies of the company. Other organizations, such as the USI, Prima Akcia and the NSF (Italian, Slovakian and Norwegian sections of the IWA), sent faxes of protest to the company’s interests in their territory, messages of solidarity with the fired and have publicized the conflict in their respective countries.

Oceania was not left out. In Australia some 20 workers belonging to the IWW, the ASF (IWA section in Australia), the Anarchist Club of Melbourne, and Union Solidarity, picketed Starbucks’ principal location in Melbourne leaving the store practically empty in spite of a strong police presence. In New Zealand a small group of activists, distributed free coffee in Christchurch and informed the public about the evil practices of the company.

The motives for the protests: On Apri 24, Monica, a barista affiliated with the Sindicato de Comercio de Sevilla of the Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo, was fired in response to her continual union activity. Some days later, on June 6, Cole Dorsey, delegate of the Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW in Grand Rapids, Michigan (United States), was fired while preparing actions to protest the firing of Monica and the anti-union discrimination of his workplace.

Faced with the globalization of the economy and the transnational companies, the workers’ resistance also has to be internationalized. Between the sections of the IWA (to which the Spanish CNT is affiliated) and the IWW launched an campaign with the objective of gaining the reinstatement of both workers.

The Future of the Campaign

The organizers of the campaign, the Sindicato de Comercio and Hosteleria of the CNT-AIT of Sevilla and the Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW, consider the day of action a success and call for new actions until the two unionists are reinstated to their jobs. Remember that the workers organizing in grassroots unions and making use of the networks of international solidarity, are the best form of defense of their labor rights.

Thanks: From the Sindicato de Comercio and Hosteleria of the CNT-AIT of Sevilla and the Starbucks Workers Union of the IWW, we want to thank the solidarity and participation of the following organizations:

CNT-AIT (Spain) , IWW (United States and International) , IWA-International Workers Association (International) , FAU-IAA (Section of the IWA in Germany), Solidarity Federation-IWA (Section of the IWA in the United Kingdom) , Sindicato de Artes e Ofícios Vários de São Paulo, COB-AIT (Section of the IWA in Brazil), Unione Syndicale Italiana-AIL (Section of the IWA in Italy), Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland), Organise! (Ireland) , Föderation des Arbeiterlnnen-Syndikate, FAS (Austria) , Systembruch (Switzerland) , Prima Akcia-AIT (Section of the IWA in Slovakia), Voz Negra (Chile) , Federación Obrera de la Regiónal Argentina-AIT (Section of the IWA in Argentina), Red Libertaria de Buenos Aires, NSF (Section of the IWA in Norway), ASF (Section of the IWA in Australia), Melbourne Anarchist Club (Australia), Union Solidarity (Australia) , ZSP (Poland) , KRAS-AIT (Section of the IWA in Russia), FAU-Bern (Suiza)
 
 

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