| German IWW Hosts American Wobblies on Speaking Tour
By Stephanie Basile 
November 24, 2008
Fellow workers Stephanie Basile (NYC) and Sarah Bender (Chicago) went on a 10-city speaking tour throughout Germany from Sept 1-14. The tour was organized by the German Language Area Members Regional Organizing Committee. The GLAMROC is currently growing, with branches in Frankfurt and Cologne and members throughout the country.
Each speaking event included presentations from Basile and Bender, the screening of a short film, and a discussion with the audience. Basile spoke about immigration and unionization issues in the US, as well as the current drive to unionize warehouse workers at Wild Edibles. Bender spoke about her experiences organizing in the Starbucks Workers Union. The film featured footage from a protest and interviews with three members of the NYC IWW.
The Frankfurt and Cologne events were hosted by IWW chapters, while the other events were hosted by trade unions and other progressive organizations.
In addition to meeting fellow IWWs from around the country, the tour gave the German and American wobblies a chance to meet allies from other unions. Some events were hosted by the FAU, Germany’s anarcho-syndicalist union, which has chapters in several cities including Berlin and Bremen.
Some events were hosted by unions which are part of the DGB, Germany’s trade union confederation. These unions include Ver-di, the services workers union, and IG Metall, the metal workers union.
Paricipants at the events were very enthusiastic about the the IWW’s work at Wild Edibles and Starbucks. They offered words of solidarity, and many made financial donations.
The speakers also learned many things from the audience members, including the differences between German and American unions. For example, whereas all mainstream American unions have closed shops, all German unions have open shops. Many Germans also expressed concern that there is a lack of young people in the German labor movement.
In addition to the 10 Germany events, Basile also spoke at an event in Bordeaux, France on Oct 11. This event was headlined by Larry Portis, an IWW historian who has written books about the IWW.
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SWU Demands Pay for Fellow Barista
By Stephanie Basile 
November 17, 2008
Members of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union recently caused a small stir at an NYC Starbucks.
On Thursday, November 6, a group of IWW baristas entered the Starbucks on Union Square East in the middle of a Starbucks job fair. They came with a letter demanding two weeks’ pay for Anna Hurst.
Hurst, a barista and mother of two, was late for one of her shifts earlier this year. In retaliation for this, her manager removed her from the work schedule for two weeks, causing her to miss out on much needed pay.
Hurst’s fellow workers entered the store while she was working and hand-delivered the letter to the store manager. The letter calls for Hurst to be paid for the two weeks she was denied work.
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