Starbucks found guilty of violating federal law (trial next month in Grand Rapids, Mi)

http://www.examiner.com/x-2071-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2008m12d26-Starbucks-found-guilty-of-violating-federal-law

A National Labor Relations Board judge has found Starbucks guilty of extensive violations of federal labor law in its bid to counter the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. In an 88-page decision, Judge Mindy E. Landow found that Starbucks maintained multiple policies which interfered with workers' right to communicate about the union and about working conditions, terminated three workers in retaliation for union activity, and repeatedly discriminated against union supporters. The decision comes despite a 2006 New York settlement in which Starbucks pledged to stop illegal anti-union activities and mirrors federal government action against the company for its conduct toward baristas in Minnesota and Michigan.

"The judge's decision coupled with previous government findings expose Starbucks for what it is --- a union-busting corporation that will go to staggering lengths to interfere with the right to freedom of association," said Daniel Gross, a barista and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union found to have been unlawfully terminated by the coffee giant. "In these trying economic times of mass layoffs and slashed work hours, it's more important than ever that Starbucks and every corporation is confronted with a social movement that insists on the right to an independent voice on the job."

"For the first time, a judge has confirmed the existence of a nationally coordinated anti-union operation at Starbucks," said Stuart Lichten, the attorney for the IWW Starbucks Workers Union in the case. "This decision conclusively establishes Starbucks' animosity toward labor organizing."

The union is confident that Judge Landow's decision will be upheld by the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. should Starbucks appeal. Starbucks faces another Labor Board trial next month in Grand Rapids, Michigan over illegal union-busting.

The IWW Starbucks Workers Union (StarbucksUnion.org) is an organization of current and former Starbucks employees united for a living wage, secure work hours, and respect on the job. Founded in 2004, the union uses direct action, litigation, and advocacy to both make systemic improvements at Starbucks and take on the company over unfair treatment of individual baristas.

Starbucks was represented by the DC-based union-busting law firm Akin Gump. After Ronald Reagan's decision to bust the PATCO union, "union avoidance" became a lucrative business for law firms as companies actively opposed their workers' right to organize. The Employee Free Choice Act, fiercely opposed by business groups, is expected to pass in 2009. The EFCA will allow workers to negotiate with their employer after a majority agree in a "card check" process. Only after a majority approve a contract in a secret ballot election will a union exist in the workplace.