Grand Rapids Starbucks Union and Seville, Spain CNT have announced a global day against Starbucks in light of recent union busting.
On April 24th, Monica, a barista from Seville, Spain was fired from Starbucks because she, “created friction with colleagues (CNT Blog).” Interestingly enough, it took a year for them to realize that she was causing tension. In reality, Monica was fired for participating in the Union of Commercial and Hotel Workers of the Confederacion Nacional de Trabajadores (CNT).
The manner in which Monica was treated is similar to the treatment of baristas in Michigan. That case resulted about a year ago in a settlement agreement with the National Labor Relations Board which pledged to respect baristas’ right to organize. Instead of abiding by the law, management continues to breach national labor laws.
On June 6th, Starbucks fired Cole Dorsey another barista in Grand Rapids, MI for coordinating a union activity. After working for the corporation for two years Dorsey says, “Today I joined the growing number of Barista that Starbucks has fired in its relentless union-busting campaign. Starbucks' disrespect for the right to join a union is appalling and absolutely will not stop our efforts to have a voice at work.”
In response to the ongoing violations of worker’s rights, the CNT in Seville and Starbucks Union in Grand Rapids plan on a Global Day of Action on July 5th in order to end the corporations union-busting policies.
Grand Rapids Protest:
4pm July 5th
Starbucks at 28th St. and East Beltline