Luckily, most of my library jobs had strong unions, so we were able to negotiate desk time (and, unlike my retail and food service days, we could sit down). If you’re at a quiet branch, you can roll with the occasional problem, but if your branch is busy or understaffed-especially if there’s a crisis breaking out, like a fist fight or a drug overdose-then things can get really overwhelming really fast. Some call you names, or spew bigotry at you, or sexually harass you, or physically assault you. Others have mind-bogglingly complicated demands, like books that don’t exist, or information that you’d need to be a private eye to get. Some patrons are really nice and easygoing. Many library jobs include daily shifts at the public service desk, and those shifts often aren’t much different from retail or food service (both of which I’ve also worked). "That’s what I hope we are: a labor movement," Anisimova said. "It's not just a union for a store, not just a union at Starbucks, not just a union for all sorts of different jobs, but a new way of thinking about how we approach work.Before I was lucky enough to be able to write full time, I worked as a librarian for 10 years. Michigan’s labor movement stands in solidarity with Starbucks Workers United, and we’ll support them on the picket line every step of the way.”Īnisimova also emphasized the large representation of women and minorities who are baristas and playing a role in organizing. “Glencoe Crossing Starbucks workers in Ann Arbor have faced active union busting tactics, disruptive changes in their store's operational hours, no supplemental compensation or hazard pay, while seeing nonunion stores be given significant wage increases. “Starbucks workers across the country have organized hundreds of union elections, and yet corporate cappuccino bureaucrats refuse to recognize their union or come to the bargaining table,” Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber said in a statement. Workers at a store last month in Clinton Township went on strike for unrelated reasons. The Glencoe location is the second Starbucks where workers have gone on strike in Michigan. to organize amid an upswell nationally of union activity. They joined workers at more than 200 other locations of Starbucks Corp. They can't use money to encourage or dissuade nonunion or union."Įmployees at the store unanimously voted to unionize on June 7, becoming one of five in the city to do so. "That's what we were afforded with that union vote - to bargain for change, no unilateral changes. "We collected cards and got union representation, because we didn't want to deal with these kids of issues," the organizer said. The national union is alleging unfair labor practice, has submitted weekly letters to the company's legal team without response, and is pursuing charges with the National Labor Relations Board, though that will take time, Anisimova said. The Detroit News left a message Thursday evening at the Glencoe Crossing store and with Starbucks Corp.'s press team.Īnisimova hopes the action will encourage Starbucks to the negotiating table, to roll back the extended hours and to institute the raises immediately with back pay. They claim they will bargain, but when we want to bargain for things, they aren't going to bargain with us." "They want to have their cake and eat it, too. on weekdays and have to stay until 10:15 p.m. Employees are told to start work at 4 a.m. Meanwhile, Anisimova says the company refuses to come to the bargaining table and unilaterally extended store hours at the location, 4585 Washtenaw Ave. Sasha Anisimova, 26, a partner and organizer at the Glencoe location, said the company is citing the need for negotiations to institute the pay raise, but the president of the Workers United labor union has waived the right to bargain to allow the raise to take effect. The employees at the corporate-owned location, known as "partners," said the action resulted from Starbucks instituting a wage increase to $15 per hour from $14 at nonunion stores, but delaying that increase until Aug. An organizer said workers would return to work on Friday. More than a dozen employees at an Ann Arbor Starbucks went on strike early Thursday and closed the store for the day over the company delaying wage increases and instituting longer hours.įull-time and part-time workers at the coffee shop at the Glencoe Crossing Shopping Center off Washtenaw Avenue east of M-23 walked off the job at 4 a.m., with 13 employees participating in the picket line until the store's closing time at 9 p.m.
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