In what has become the first ever strike at at Starbucks owned store, 200 Starbucks workers who are members of Sindicato de Trabajadores de Starbucks Coffee Chile went out on strike in early July to protest low wages. The current wage is an average of $2.50 an hour, while the stores themselves are charging prices that are comparable with prices charged here in the U.S.
At issue is the fact that the workers were asking for a lunch stipend, something the managers were already receiving.
The Chilean workers have been pressing for a lunch stipend since they organized two years ago. Starbucks managers in Chile get a monthly "lunch bonus" of $50, while other employees are offered two free coffees a day. "I would prefer to eat a sandwich," Mr. Giordano said.
The big picture issue at hand is the fact that Starbucks has engaged in very active union busting behavior on all fronts. They have been forced to comply with union mandates in countries that require them to do so, but their efforts to stop unionization are well known.
Starbucks has had to comply with government-mandated participation in collective-bargaining agreements in Brazil and Argentina. The company has also clashed with workers who tried unsuccessfully to organize in Europe and New Zealand, and it has battled with unionized workers in North America, where 300 employees are members of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.
On July 25th it was reported that three Starbucks managers began a hunger strike in solidarity with the workers.
The IWW was asked to organize solidarity actions here in the US. In Seattle, we put together an informational picket for July 29th in front of Starbucks headquarters (organized through the Seattle Solidarity Network).
Our action was designed to draw attention to the situation in Chile, but we also stand in solidarity with our comrades here at home who are harassed and sometimes even terminated for attempting to unionize at Starbucks.
Union barista, Fired union barista Tiffany Whiteand mother of two, Tiffany White was fired without cause on Thursday, July 21st 2011, just one day after publicly declaring her affiliation with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.
For more information on the IWW Starbucks Union follow the link!