Starbucks Workers Fight Bitter Conditions

Baristas and their supporters rallied for better working conditions outside a Dupont Circle Starbucks last week. Complaints include understaffing and erratic work schedules, low wages, unaffordable health care, and the need for the right to organize. “If you repeat a lie enough times, it will resonate,” Daniel Gross, former Starbucks employee and organizer for the Starbucks Workers Union, told David Segal of the Washington Post, noting that although Starbucks offers health-care coverage to any employee who puts in at least 240 hours per quarter, only “42 percent of employees are covered” by Starbucks, less than even Wal-Mart covers, Segal reported. Although workers at nine Starbucks have organized so far with the Starbuck Workers Union -- including a store in Rockville, MD -- Starbucks refuses to consider any of them union shops. Starbucks’ anti-union efforts have been so blatant that in 2006 the company had to sign a consent decree in which it “promised it wouldn't threaten union supporters with negative performance reviews or transfers to other stores,” reported Segal. And earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board cited the company for multiple labor violations, reported Steven Greenhouse for the New York Times. For more info on the Starbucks workers campaign, click here. (right), photo by Melina Mara/Washington Post; (left), photo from the SWU website