The Starbucks Union website is often dead for long stretches of time. And for good reason: The IWW has to be delusional to believe they can somehow convince Starbucks to allow unions in their stores. Today’s post…

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Fellow Union Members and Friends:

Anna Hurst is a New York City barista, Starbucks Union member, and a single mother of two.

One day in August, Anna went home ill from work at Starbucks. In retaliation, her store manager – abruptly and without notice – denied her any work hours for two full weeks.

Anna needs the money she’s owed to put food on the table, pay her bills, and buy Christmas presents for her two children.

Call and/or text message store manager Gwendolyn Krueger today at…

…is especially sad, to me. I can’t imagine Ms. Hurst will have her job for much longer after all these IWW workers deluge the manager’s phone with calls and texts. “But it’s illegal to fire somebody for this sort of thing,” someone says. “Welcome to 2008,” I say, sadly.

I have a weird relationship with the Wobblies. I know they’re doing hopeless work, but I really want to side with them.

45 replies on “Oh, Wobblies…”

  1. So The Stranger‘s general position is this: if anyone protests war, neoliberal trade policy, school closings, removing a lane of traffic in West Seattle, or abuse of workers, they are delusional, foolish and embarrassing. Protest Prop 8 after it’s already passed? A-OK. Excellent. Awesome. Sure to change the world before your eyes!

    Is that basically it? Any kind of gay civil rights protest, no matter how hysterical, is going to get love. Protest any other issue and you’re just stupid. Right?

  4. Hmm. She went home sick in August, was disallowed hours for two weeks (August/possibly September), and now she’s kvetching about how she needs her $ to afford Christmas presents?

    There’s a big piece missing here.

  5. It’s not about Starbucks “allowing” unions at their stores.

    The goal is to organize enough workers and demand union representation and force Starbucks to negotiate with them. It is illegal to fire someone for that sort of thing, and 2008 or not management feels they cost of breaking the law outweighs their benefit.

    Why don’t you side with them? If workers demand a union, shouldn’t they have it? Yes, Starbucks has more money and time to wait them out, but support the workers. Send text messages, make phone calls, if they call for a boycott (which they most likely won’t, because that too would be illegal) support it. Go into Starbucks, buy a cup of coffee, and let management know you want to buy coffee from union workers.

  8. Paul, you just shot way down in my estimation. Of course $tarbucks will happily keep crapping on its workers as long as idiots like you keep shrugging and saying “you must be delusional to expect change”. The thought of stopping giving them your money didn’t cross your mind for one second did it. You’re welcome to your ambiguous maleness (op cit) but your humanity took a hit today.

  9. #6 Compared to places in the world (and this country) where protests are a continuous necessity for basic political participation and survival, Americans are pretty safe. Besides, I was talking about the Stranger’s core staff, not Americans generally. As for average Americans, they should be out in the streets.

  10. why unionize a position that involves automatic espresso and frothing machines? how do you unionize what amounts to a retail clerk whose biggest skill is pushing a button.

  11. If I was flush with cash I might help her out on some groceries but screw Christmas presents for the kids. A lot of people can’t afford to buy presents for their kids this year.

  12. joe is right. No company has the right to “allow” or “disallow” a union. If they had that right, there would be no unions at all; no company, especially a multi-gazillion dollar company, wants their employees to be unionized.

    the wobblies might be a little misguided and their ideas antiquated, but their sentiment is important. We do need to organize and demand union representation in our workplaces. Unions, although relatively paltry in their membership, are a driving force of progressive legislation. What we need to do is work with our allies to pass legislation that strengthen our currently laughable labor laws, which will help rebuild the middle class. Barack Obama has pledged to the labor movement (which spent a lot of money and resources to help him get elected) that he will do this, now we just need to hold him accountable to that promise.

  13. maybe the wobblies should organize the Stranger?

    say what you will about the old anarcho unions, and the old left, but u owe the motherfuckers your 8 hour work day, days off and paid holidays. mainstream unions selling out workers hasn’t resulted in better collective bargaining agreements for them.

    if its now considered cool to be anti union than im glad im uncool.

  14. #10: Well in the olden days, back before many of the large unions became monolithic, bloated and corrupt institutions, unions were not concerned with skilled labor only, but all labor. What’s happenining here is similar to “illegal” efforts to build unions in China. It’s organizing as it was meant to be, as opposed to what most of it has become. It’s about fighting for the worker rather than some subset who can pay big dues.

  16. 15: For some reason I know a lot of people from Wisco and Minnesota who are heavily into the wobblies. Is the IWW strong there these days? I mean strong relative to 20 years ago.

  18. I don’t understand how any one with any conscious could work for or buy from any organization that provides products that are not locally sustainable. If it isn’t grown within one days walk of where you live, its not sufficiently green, and your killing the planet.

  19. 15: I meant people who actually work with their hands, you know, actually do labor, as opposed to white collar work.

    Bankers are also more likely to make living wages and have some form of insurance, though this idea might be foreign to you.

  20. @18: You’ve got to be kidding me. So you don’t drink coffee, eat chocolate or bananas or mangos, use sugar (do I need to go on)? Because I don’t see those growing in these parts.

    Do you realize just how out of touch you are with the rest of the world, even those of us who are extremely sympathetic to environmental causes?

  21. Stranger writers love to crap on reporters who are too ready to accept one side of a story (the “credulous hack” meme). Yet, here’s another case of taking a single anecdote from someone who may indeed be a lousy employee (the service industries have a lot of those) and automatically indicts Starbucks and all of corporate America.

    Stupid fucking credulous hack.

  22. 20: It’s extremely difficult, but you can cut those things out with substitutes (beet sugar for example) and selective buying (avoiding coffee, bananas, mangoes, cocaine). Of course, I do consume all these things, sometimes thoughtlessly, sometimes with guilt.

  23. want to make tim keck and dan savage uncomfortable? mention the word “union” around them. amazing how quickly a so-called liberal can turn into a right wing republican.

  24. Even my most pessimistic friends that have had the experience of working there will note, for the tier of service job that it is, Starbucks is actually a decent place to work. They also probably have the most generous benefits package for part timers of any company in America.

    I’m not against unions, but unionizing at Starbucks won’t quash anecdotes of asshole managers, it’ll just suck $50 outta your paycheck and probably keep the worst of your coworkers from getting fired.

  26. 23: Dan Savage is pretty much a fiscal conservative with a liberal view of sex, reproductive rights and sexual orientation. Discounting all that, he’s definitely center-right.

  28. #24: That’s kind of anecdotal. I know plenty of people who take the opposite view: that, while it’s ok for a service job, it’s still pretty shitty. And maybe changes there will lead to labor reforms throughout the whole service industry. I’m saying this as someone who has worked at Starbucks corporate before. Not only have I known people personally, I’ve also seen lots of comment cards filled out by angry or upset employes with absolutely awful experiences.

  29. or is that a dude with really long hair?… cause whatever it is it’s got massive forearms. Presumably from using that wrench to make coffee?

    I’m confused…

  31. 27: Maybe she’s a Mayan fighting for rights for coffee workers in Central America. Or more likely, maybe she’s just a black chick. As for the wrench, who the fuck knows? Maybe it’s for caving in the skull of the bourgeois oppressor.

  32. Many of today’s unions actually gained incredible strength during the last depression.

    My grandfather was an electrical lineman for Nebraska Public Power from the ’20’s to the ’60’s. Prior to unionization in the 1930’s (via the Int’l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which is the union that also represents City Light lineworkers) deaths were appallingly common, and you could be called into work, but not paid unless there was something to do (like in the case of storms, where you don’t know when you’ll be needed). The IBEW established safety protocols, and made sure that workers were paid for time at work.

    Contrast that with my other grandfather, who was rendered leaglly blind in an industrial accident, fired from his job, and had to move in with his wife’s family. They ran a small grocery store, where half the customers were credit customers who didn’t pay, and he died of heart disease because they couldn’t afford medical care.

    Unions are good for workers and – when there is competent management, which is rare these days – they aren’t bad for companies. Always remember, it takes two to enter into an agreement: Union and management. It’s not the union’s fault if the management is too stupid or too overworked to know the work rules.

    OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

  33. Wow! Fucked from all sides!

    For those who are concerned about this employee maybe being a flake: I don’t think that’s the point of this post.

    For those who are upset about me giving up on Starbucks and unionization: I’m extremely pro-union. And I know there are a few unionized Starbucks, but I think the company would sooner go out of business than have the entirety of their staff unionize. And it may not be about “allowing” staff to unionize, but there are lots of ways companies can shut down unions. The unionized stores are allowed to exist because they haven’t rocked the boat too much.

    The business environment in America is incredibly anti-union. Or at least anti-new-union and anti-retail union.

    And the Wobblies, by expending their energy having people call the manager, are not helping anything here. The employee will not get more hours because her manager was crank-called a lot. And the Wobblies won’t rise in anyone’s estimation. This is a losing battle. But I’m glad to see people having such strong opinions on unions…the last time I posted something about unionization in Starbucks, almost all the responses were: “Get a better job!” I think that’s just the wrong attitude to take.

  35. @31

    “Maybe it’s for caving in the skull of the bourgeois oppressor.”

    And there in lies the rub. She brought a wrench to a gun fight.

    How charmingly privative, yet misguided…

  36. JMS, if you like Red Socialism so much, why don’t you move with your comrade Red Bushies to Russia.

    And have a 45 year life span.

  37. My grandpa was a lineman, and the union was very good for him and all of the people he worked with to make sure the lights stayed on. (Well, except for two instances he was electrocuted…) So, I’ve grown up pro-union, and I respect what unions did for the workers in the 20th century.

    But why don’t we just pass some laws to protect ALL workers, instead of limiting the protections to those who can belong to a union? We don’t need laws that give us 95% pay during layoffs; we don’t need laws that limit our business successes or failures within a company; we don’t need laws that give us crazy huge pensions that will suck the blood from all future generations.

    But it would be nice if *every* worker in the US could have some form of benefits (I would be thrilled to get what Starbucks gives its baristas, btw)… some paid sick leave, a few weeks of maternity/paternity leave with pay, limits on work hours (or mandatory OT pay), some vacation time–it doesn’t have to be 5 weeks minimum like in the EU, of course, but jeez.

    My job will almost certainly never unionize. But I’d like to know that it would be ok to take a day or two off paid to recover from a flu, just like union members can.

  39. Prediction: Starbucks will be close to bankruptcy by early next year, and will be sold after having closed over half its stores and having laid off almost two thirds of its workforce

  44. although a long way from their heyday in the 20s, the iww continues to organize workers around the country. tomorrow, workers organized by the wobblies in north carolina will begin a strike as part of their campaign against weyerhaeuser. this strike will be accompanied by actions across the country in solidarity with the striking workers. wobblies in seattle are active in organizing campaigns around workers comp issues, wage claim fights, and housing battles. these actions, though they can perhaps be seen as “losing battles” when viewed by people who are looking for clean, quick resolutions, help to empower all of us to fight our own fights, instead of waiting for backroom deals and representative powers to fix our lives for us.

    bosses beware.

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