IWW Global Day of Action Against Starbucks for San Diego!

Dear friends and comrades,

You may have heard a lot about Starbucks lately. Baristas in Chile, who make about $2.50 per hour, recently went on strike because the company refused to negotiate with them. While the strike is now over, the workers in Chile have promised to continue the fight in other ways.

Another group of workers at a company that supplies cups to Starbucks, Pactiv, is fighting against unacceptable cuts to their pay and benefits, and they need our help to put the heat on Starbucks! Starbucks... has ignored Pactiv's attack on its workers and turned a blind eye to the violation of it's own Supplier Code of Conduct, which states suppliers must demonstrate "a commitment to the welfare and economic improvement" of their employees. Workers at the Pactiv plant in Stockton, CA, represented by Local 83 of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, are protesting outside of Starbucks corporate headquarters on November 25th, and have called for a global day of action to take place at the same time.

IWW Starbucks Workers Union fully supports and endorses this day of action, and call on all IWW branches, members, and allies able to do so to head to the busiest Starbucks location near you on the 25th and let the company know that their union-busting will not be tolerated, and that they are responsible for the outrageous anti-worker behavior of their suppliers.

Pactiv is not the only Starbucks supplier attacking its workers. Employees at the Maximus Coffee plant in Houston, Texas are currently on strike after their bosses attempted to force a 25-50% pay cut with corresponding cuts in benefits on them. Starbucks is one of the retailers that Maximus roasts, packages, and processes coffee beans for. Just as they have with Pactiv, Starbucks has remained silent about this blatant violation of its own "ethical" policies.

Meanwhile, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union continues to fight for better wages, better conditions, and respect at work for the company's tens of thousands of baristas in the U.S. Our organizers continue to win victories in their workplaces through direct action. Many SWU organizers have been illegally fired since our union was founded in 2004, so we know all too well what union-busting feels like.

The bottom line is, we need your help to make this day of action a success. With enough participation from IWW branches and allies, we can make Starbucks worry about their squeaky-clean public image enough to pressure Pactiv into treating its workers fairly. A successful wave of actions around the country and the world will remind Starbucks that we are monitoring their activities, and that union-busting, anti-worker behavior will not be tolerated from them or their suppliers. It can also inform Starbucks workers that the IWW Starbucks Workers Union exists and can help them fight for better conditions, which could assist our organizing efforts greatly. Where we decide to take action, please take a moment to talk to the workers in the Starbucks, explain what the action is all about and that we are on their side.

We will be leafleting, displaying banners and signs, perhaps chanting, and speaking with the public about the working conditions and low-pay of Starbucks employees. Our target location will be at the Starbucks in City Heights in the Albertson's plaza on Monday, November 25th between 6:30pm-7:30pm. The address is 4421 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92105. 

 

Here is the link the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/627932983920303/ Please reserve if you can!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Diego IWW Statement of Solidarity with Survivors of Gender-based Violence

Statement of Solidarity with Survivors of Gender-based Violence and Condemnation of the PLP’s Defense of Rape and Class Reductionism


The San Diego Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World stands in full solidarity with a Fellow Worker who was raped by a prominent organizer in the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). The response of the PLP has been abhorrent, combining a meaningless self-evaluation and a slap on the wrist with insidious undermining of the survivor, her account, and her allies.

In their official response, they claim to fight “sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny in every aspect”, while in the same breath slander the survivor and her allies as “informant-provocateurs” acting in collusion with the fascist police state. The PLP has made clear that the oppression of women, even in its most horrific and violent manifestation, means nothing when it interferes with their prescription for revolution. They will do anything to make this go away. PLP would rather slander the survivor than take necessary action to address the problem that one of their members has committed sexual assault. Their response is class reductionism at its worst. It is being deployed here to protect the privileges of men and cloak rape apologism and victim blaming in the false armor of bogus class struggle heroics. It is our duty to recognize and take action when those that call themselves revolutionaries perpetuate the forms of oppression that keep the working class divided. There is nothing more damaging to class struggle than denying the separate existence of other forms of oppression.

We will work to stand in solidarity with all those who experience gender-based discrimination, assaults, and other forms of victimization-- both within the “revolutionary left” and in broader society. Our stance is that the work of class struggle must be combined with struggles against all forms of oppression, without the attempt to reduce or simplify them into a hierarchy. Members of the San Diego IWW pledge to redouble our efforts of addressing patriarchal behavior throughout our union and within the broader community. We will take action to create a working sub-committee to confront patriarchy in our union, and directly address the way that our dynamics contribute to the oppression of our comrades and women everywhere.

Solidarity with Walmart Workers

For the first time in their 50 year history, retail workers from dozens of Wal-Mart stores have gone on strike. Their complaints range from poor wages, to poor benefits, and to retaliation from the company against those attempting to organize.

Workers everywhere, union and non-union, in retail and in other fields, owe a debt of gratitude to the courageous Walmart workers who exercised their right to strike to force America’s largest employer to change for the better.

The San Diego organizing committee of IWW stands in solidarity with the Walmart workers. We stand ready to support their fight to improve their workplace conditions, to be treated with respect, to raise their economic standing, and if they so choose, to empower themselves through collective bargaining and direct action.

We recognize that workers everywhere have a moral and legal right to have a voice in the workplace, and when Walmart workers recognize and exercise their power to improve their lives, all retail workers, and workers everywhere, will see their living standards improve.

Solidarity Forever!