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Starbucks Fires Grand Rapids Union Organizer

Posted: June 6th, 2008 | Author: edcutlip |

Grand Rapids Starbucks Union announced today that Starbucks has fired a longtime barista who was actively organizing with the union:

“Grand Rapids, MI (06/06/2008) – Starbucks terminated a barista active in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union today as part of its ongoing effort to combat a growing movement of employees pushing for a living wage and secure work hours. The barista, Cole Dorsey, was fired after two years of service while he was coordinating a union recruitment drive at Starbucks stores in Grand Rapids. Starbucks’ pretext for the illegal anti-union firing was that Dorsey was guilty of some months-old attendance infractions.

“Today I joined the growing number of baristas that Starbucks has fired in its relentless union-busting campaign,” said Cole Dorsey. “Starbucks’ disrespect for the right to join a union is appalling and absolutely will not stop our efforts to have a voice at work.”

The firing comes as a National Labor Relations Board judge is set to rule after a lengthy trial on the retaliatory terminations of three New York City baristas. Even before the firing, the NLRB was investigating whether Starbucks violated a settlement agreement entered into in Grand Rapids over anti-union discrimination. In 2006, Starbucks was forced to re hire two union baristas who had been unlawfully fired for union activity. This latest firing in Grand Rapids signals that reinstalled CEO Howard Schultz will not modify the company’s practice of terminating outspoken union baristas to intimidate workers from joining up.

This firing in Grand Rapids is the same tactic Starbucks employed against a union member in Sevilla, Spain. On April 24, Monica was fired from a Starbucks in Sevilla for her activity on behalf of the Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores (CNT).

In response the CNT in Sevilla, along with the Starbucks Union in Grand Rapids, have announced a Global Day of Action set for July 5. Workers, students, and concerned citizens around the world will be confronting the global coffee giant on that day demanding an end to Starbucks union-busting policies.

DEMAND STARBUCKS REINSTATE COLE DORSEY IN GRAND RAPIDS!

DEMAND STARBUCKS STOP UNION-BUSTING!

PARTICIPATE IN THE JULY 5TH GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION!

Contact Grand Rapids Management:

Tom Belanger District Manager – 616-826-9386

Nate Bailey Store Manager – 616-633-7780″

The Grand Rapids Starbucks Union has called for a “global day of action” on July 5 to protest Starbucks’ anti-union activities.

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Related Posts:

  1. Ruling Against Starbucks over Firing of Union Organizer in Grand Rapids
  2. Grand Rapids Starbucks Union Mentioned in National Media
  3. Baristas Announce Affiliation with Starbucks Workers Union
  4. Grand Rapids Starbucks Union and Spanish CNT Call for Global Day of Action against Starbucks
  5. NLRB Files Complaint against Starbucks for Anti-Union Activity

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One Comment on “Starbucks Fires Grand Rapids Union Organizer”

  1. 1 Grandma Pat said at 12:00 am on June 9th, 2008:

    I think it is time for people to not go to Starbucks. When you go, it is saying that what they do to people is not important. In a Democracy and the USA – the rights to a Union are a right. Unfortunately, our current administration thinks that Unions are profit busters for big CEO’s. Big corps and CEO’s are big contributors and Lobbyists. They in turn manage YOUR money and tax dollars. Think about this the next time you drink a Starbucks expensive coffee.