( translation )

"Look at all those potential Union Dues to collect !! "

Week after week... paycheck after paycheck.



On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:38:47 -0800, Dan Clore
> wrote:

>News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
>
>http://tinyurl.com/c9hguo
>“The Starbucks Problem”
>Friday, February 13 2009 @ 08:58 AM CST
>Contributed by: WorkerFreedom
>Fire Your Boss
>
>Last month, anonymous sources posted a secret conference call hosted by
>Bank of America on the website Wikileaks.org.
>
>The leaked audio file provides the public with a rare window into the
>paranoid and anxiety-ridden conscience of the corporate elite. On the
>call, Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, corporate executives, right-wing
>activists, and notorious anti-union lobbyist Rick Berman rail against
>the possibility of a revitalized labor movement, with Marcus referring
>to unionization of retail as the “demise of a civilization.” One
>participant coins the term the “Starbucks Problem,” referring to the
>possibility that workers will simply form their own unions, rather than
>waiting for the lethargic union establishment to initiate organizing drives.
>
>The conference call was prompted by the potential passage of the
>Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). If it passes, EFCA will change US labor
>law to require employers to bargain with a union if 50%+1 of the
>workforce in any workplace sign union authorization cards. This would
>replace the current process, which creates delays of several weeks
>between the signing of authorization cards and an NLRB-supervised
>election, leaving the bosses plenty of time to fire or intimidate union
>supporters.
>
>Many trade unionists pin their hopes for a revitalized labor movement on
>the passage of EFCA. They hope that card-check provisions, combined with
>stiffer penalties for union-busting will allow them to sign up millions
>of new members in the service industry. Of course, requiring employers
>to bargain does nothing to ensure the internal democracy or power of the
>new union. The Industrial Worker, newspaper of the Industrial Workers of
>the World, recently published a particularly lucid expression of this
>critique.
>
>If Corporate America is anxious about the growth of the Change to Win or
>the AFL-CIO unions, it was clear from this conference call that “The
>Starbucks Problem” leaves them absolutely terrified. In a tone verging
>on hysteria, one executive on the call worried that proactive groups of
>workers will simply start their own unions, as we have done at Starbucks
>with the help of the Industrial Workers of the World.
>
>Of course, the IWW has been organizing at Starbucks since long before
>EFCA was a glimmer in the AFL-CIO’s eye. We know that workers don’t need
>professional staff, expensive lawyers, or government recognition to
>organize an independent voice on the job. What the corporate elites call
>“The Starbucks Problem”, we call “Solidarity Unionism.” And whether EFCA
>passes or not, we will continue building solidarity with our coworkers,
>making demands, and winning gains for workers at even the largest
>corporate chains.
>
>With or without the Employee Free Choice Act, the “Starbucks Problem” is
>going to get a lot bigger than Starbucks.
>
>February 13, 2009
>http://tcsbuxunion.com/2009/02/13/th...bucks-problem/