[act-ma] FRI 4/1 Noon PICKET for Starbucks Workers' Union!!

[Geoff Carens]

Dear All,

Please join the Starbucks Workers' Union,  Friday 4/1 at noon, for a picket
of Union-busting CEO Howard Schultz's speech at Harvard Business School.
Schultz will address budding business executives on the topic of his
highly-profitable company. The profits come at the expense of baristas who
start at just $7.75 an hour. No baristas are ever allowed full-time status.
Baristas are never guaranteed any amount of hours per week. Management
deliberately understaffs, so workers have to handle beverages as hot as 200
degrees while moving very fast. Repetitive strain injuries are common.

A top-down management culture perpetuates treatment like that meted out to
Azmera, an Ethiopian immigrant who worked at Starbucks in St Paul MI.
Management at the store falsely accused Azmera of theft, but admitted they
had no video or other evidence to support their accusation. Taking advantage
of her limited English abilities, the District Manager bullied and
manipulated Azmera into signing a promissory note saying she would agree to
pay Starbucks the arbitrarily-determined amount of $1200. After unfairly
firing this hard-working mother of three, Starbucks then threatened to send
their baseless $1200 claim against her to a collection agency!

The SWU has been campaigning for union recognition for 8 long years. Howard
Schultz's and Starbucks' response has been to wage a war against activists.
Let's all raise public awareness about the real nature of this "socially
responsible" company while Schultz regales his audience at Harvard Business
School's Spangler Hall! We'll picket from noon until about 3 p.m. Schultz's
talk begins at 1 p.m.

Spangler Hall is located 1 block from the intersection of Soldiers' Field
Road and Western Ave (3 min by car or about a 15-minute walk from Harvard or
Central Square). From Harvard Sq, take JFK Street, cross the Charles river
and turn left on Gordon Rd. which will take you directly to Spangler Hall.
>From Central Sq, take Western Ave, which runs right in front of the
building. Here's the
map<http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=42.364003&lon=-71.120169&zoom=17&q1=western%20ave%20and%20east%20drive%2C%20allston%20ma>.
You can easily get to Spangler Hall on bus routes which include the 66, 70,
and 86 MBTA buses.

A flyer is attached with more information. Please forward this email as
widely as possible! Facebook event is
here<http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160406997351640>.
Check out the union's website <http://www.starbucksunion.org/>.

In Solidarity,

Geoff Carens
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
http://www.iww.org/
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