Nationwide Action Against Starbucks:
This post is more for our American friends than it is for we here in Canada, though it might be hoped that the actions will be imitated worldwide in the future. Starbucks, to my mind, is the epitome of "trendy" and it summarizes a lot of things I despise in one cute corporate package. From faux-leftism to buying image rather than substance Starbucks typifies it all. The American IWW has had a long standing campaign to unionize Starbucks' workers, especially in the NYC area. This Nov 24th and 25th the IWW plans to stage a nationwide (USA) campaign in support of their efforts. Several workers have already been fired for their efforts in the campaign, and Starbucks has had judgements rendered against it by the National Labor Relations Board of the USA for its union busting tactics. The IWW has also added the demand that Starbucks recognize the Ethiopian ownership of the brand names of certain coffees, infringement on which directly impoverishes the already dirt poor farmers of Ethiopia.
For further information on this campaign please look at the Starbucks' Union website at http://www.starbucksunion.org .