Great diary today on the plight of low-wage workers at Starbucks and Blockbuster.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
However, most of the commentators seem to think that organizing these types of work places is impossible. Let's get one thing straight: difficult does not mean impossible, never-been-done-(yet) does not mean imposible, and high unemployment rate does not mean impossible.
All of these conditions existed in the '30s, and yet, the great CIO organized millions of workers, at breathtaking pace and in spite of great danger.
In fact, not only is organizing low-wage workers not impossible, it's already happening!
And so, after I read that diary, I called the IWW HQ in Chicago and spoke with Fellow Worker Matt. Asked him about the Starbucks Organizing Campaign, and here is the information that he gave:
The workers at Starbucks got fed up with being treated like door mats, and decided to organize themselves. This is a grassroots campaign, in the fine Wobbly tradition. The campaign is led by the workers and supported by IWW HQ, not the other way around.
Fellow Worker Matt:
We organize the Workers, not the Job.
Starbucks is a national corporation, not franchise, and this is a national campaign that is strongest in New York. There is no contract yet, but there have been some victories as per safety and hours. The company denies that the Union had anything to do with those concesions, but yet Matt wonders, "then why didn't the Boss grant those concesions before organizing began." Those concessions were won by job action.
To our Fellow Workers at starbucks:
SOLIDARITY
For more info:
Starbucks Workers Union: http://www.iww.org/...
& http://www.starbucksunion.org/
IWW: http://www.iww.org/
Email: ghq@IWW.org