I just read a post on the IWW Starbucks Union site talking about their sixth year anniversary. They mention a lot of what the corporation is doing wrong and I wanted to highlight those things.

• “the doubling of our health insurance costs, massive layoffs, reduced staffing, and the continued disregard of greedy company executives for the well-being of hard-working Baristas and their families– even as Starbucks achieves record profits of $760.3 million in the last 12 months.”
• The Starbucks Workers Union expanded to Canada as Baristas in Quebec City joined the IWW in response to Starbucks new Optimal Scheduling system, which forces students to choose between keeping their jobs and staying in school, and pressures working parents to choose between their children and their careers.
• Starbucks cornered into signing its sixth settlement agreement with the National Labor Relations Board pledging to end its anti-union misconduct.
• In New York City, baristas called on Starbucks executives to end their hypocrisy and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by offering holiday pay on MLK Day.
• We stood up for the right of all workers to a workplace free to sexual harassment by standing with barista Kati Moore in her battle with the company over their support for a supervisor who repeatedly coerced her into sex. Unfortunately, we found that tolerance of sexual harassment has its roots high in the corporate hierarchy at Starbucks. Our public stance in support of Kati Moore inspired high-level managers to expose the pattern of sexual harassment and abuse engaged in by Starbucks Regional Vice President Andrew Alfano.
• In St. Paul, MN, the Starbucks Workers Union sprang to the defense of wrongfully-fired Barista Azmera Mebrahtu as she was unjustly targeted by Partner & Asset Protection.
• In Fort Worth, TX, union Baristas took direct action to demand the right to call in sick when they were forced to work with H1N1 symptoms, as well as to highlight Starbucks’ decision to line executives pockets by doubling our healthcare costs.

I’d also like to mention that while I love the staff at the Starbucks in Dupont Circle here in Washington DC. I made the decision back in February to stop patronizing Starbucks (I did buy something once or twice since then but it’s not like it was when I had a daily routine). It has to do with the way they treat their employees, their anti-union ideology and lastly because they are a global chain and I want to patronize local businesses or at least local chains.