| IWW Victory For Fired Starbucks Barista Isis Saenz
By SWU 
June 19, 2007
June 19, 2007
Starbucks Hit With Yet Another Labor Board Complaint
New York, NY- Less than three months after the
National Labor Relations Board hit Starbucks with a
30-count legal complaint, the federal agency has once
again accused the coffee giant of breaking the law in
a continuing effort to undermine the IWW Starbucks
Workers Union [StarbucksUnion.org]. Based on an
independent investigation into the company’s conduct,
the Board has alleged that Starbucks fired outspoken
union barista, Isis Saenz, for protected organizing
activity.
“It’s beyond dispute now that Starbucks is waging one
of the most relentless anti-union operations in the
United States today,” said Stuart Lichten, the IWW’s
attorney on the case. “If Wal-Mart has a soul mate in
the union-busting arena, it’s Starbucks.”
Starbucks fired Ms. Saenz after she participated in a
union protest at a Park Avenue Starbucks where
Chairman Howard Schultz was scheduled to attend a book
release event. Protesters, who were calling on the
company to pay a living wage and respect the right to
organize, chanted “shame, shame” when Starbucks
Regional Vice President Jim McDermott exited the
store. Starbucks was upset that Ms. Saenz referred to
McDermott as “Jimmy”. Working people in the United
States and abroad took to the streets in a global day
of action to condemn Ms. Saenz's termination.
“With this complaint, workers everywhere should rest
assured that calling your boss by his or her first
name at a union protest is protected,” said a smiling
Alex Van Schaick, an IWW barista at the Park Avenue
store. “Even if you add a ‘y’.”
The trial against Starbucks on all the outstanding New
York charges is set for July 9, 2007 at Region 2 of
the Labor Board. Last year, the coffee giant entered a
lengthy settlement agreement with the federal
government in the first labor case brought by baristas
in the United States.
Starbucks workers can earn a starting wage as low as
$6 or $7 an hour and are prohibited from obtaining
full-time status. While the company boasts of its
health care offering, Starbucks actually insures a
lower percentage of its workforce than Wal-Mart, a
company notorious for its unaffordable health care
package. Due to understaffing, baristas are often
forced to work at an unsafe speed exposing themselves
to the risk of repetitive stress injuries and burns.
The IWW Starbucks Workers Union is an organization of
employees at the world's largest coffee chain united
for dignity on the job and in society. Since the
founding of the union in 2004, Starbucks workers have
joined at multiple stores in several U.S. states.
Pressure from the union against Starbucks has resulted
in wage increases and the remedy of a diverse array of
grievances from pregnancy discrimination to health and
safety violations.
With members across the United States, Canada, Europe,
and Australia, the Industrial Workers of the World is
a union dedicated to democracy in the workplace.
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HANDYFAT GOES ON TRIAL, E-Z SUPPLY TO FOLLOW
By Stephanie B 
June 16, 2007
On May 22, trial proceedings began for the case of fired warehouse workers at Handyfat Trading Corp, one of the five NYC warehouses being organized by the IWW. The National Labor Relations Board charges that the warehouse's owner illegally terminated four employees for engaging in union activity.
Shortly after being served with federal papers demanding back wages, Handyfat’s owner asked the employees for their working papers, and then fired the employees when they were unable to produce these papers. This is illegal, as the law requires employers to ask for such papers within 72 hours of hiring employees, and most of these employees had been working at Handyfat for years.
What was supposed to be a short trial (one to two days) was turned into a weeklong circus by Handyfat’s lawyer, Anthony Emeningo. Emeningo who regularly asked irrelevant questions, interrupted the judge, and even answered his cell phone during the trial. For some reason, the judge allowed this extremely unprofessional behavior to take place in the courtroom. This left it up to the NLRB lawyers to divert attention away from Emeningo's smoke and mirrors and back to the truth - which is that the fired workers were fired for union activity.
The judge is expected to announce a decision in September. Meanwhile, Emeningo is also representing Sunrise Plus (a.k.a. E-Z Supply), who is also going on trial for the illegal termination of union workers. Supporters are welcome to sit in on the trial. It is to take place on Thursday, July 5th at #2 Metrotech Center, 5th Floor, in Brooklyn, NY.
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Protestan por despidos en Queens
By MARIA VEGA/EDLP 
June 15, 2007
Maspeth, N.Y. — Los ex-empleados del almacén EZ Supply, en la zona industrial entre Brooklyn y Queens, dicen que por años trabajaron seis días a la semana, por menos del salario mínimo, sin descansos, sin pago de horas extra, y bajo amenazas de despido si se quejaban.
La hora de entrada era las 8:30 a.m., y se suponía que la salida era entre las 5 y 6 p.m. “Pero salíamos a las ocho de la noche nosotros”, dijo Jorge Orea, quien trabajó once años como conductor para esa compañía.
Las querellas al dueño del negocio caían en oídos sordos, dijeron el sábado los trabajadores.
“Nosotros decíamos que nos pagara overtime (horas extra), pero él no quería”, dijo Primitivo Aguilar, que llevaba 15 años trabajando en el almacén.
Otro ex-chofer, Voon Sow Onn, dijo que el patrón descontó dinero de impuestos a los empleados, pero los trabajadores no recibían el comprobante necesario para demostrar que el dinero se les había descontado.
Los trabajadores relatan que cansados del maltrato del patrón, votaron a principios del año pasado para afiliarse al sindicato Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Meses más tarde, en medio de las negociaciones para el primer contrato laboral entre el sindicato y el patrón, el almacén cambió de nombre y en vísperas de Año Nuevo despidió a Orea, Aguilar, Sow Onn y otros empleados que habían votado para sindicalizarse, según alega el sindicato en una querella presentada ante el gobierno federal.
La querella será discutida a fines de este mes ante la Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo (National Labor Relations Board, NLRB), el organismo gubernamental con jurisdicción en las disputas obrero-patronales. El sindicato también ha presentado una demanda en corte federal contra la empresa, dijo Billy Randel, organizador del IWW.
El almacén de EZ Supply, que ahora se llama Sunrise Plus, está en la avenida Metropolitan, en medio de la zona industrial de Maspeth. Randel dijo que hay unos 200 almacenes similares en la zona, que suplen a los restaurantes de la ciudad. En la mayoría de los casos, indicó, los dueños de los almacenes son chinos, y los empleados son hispanos. Las condiciones laborales, según el IWW, son deplorables en este tipo de almacén, y hasta ahora sólo en tres hay protección sindical para los trabajadores.
Un empleado del almacén dijo ayer que el dueño del negocio no estaba disponible para hacer comentarios sobre la querella en su contra.
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