From the Coffee Factory: Interview with an IWW barista from the Mall of America Starbucks

[Editor's Note:
The following is an interview I did on July 23rd with Jake Bell, one of the Starbucks baristas from the Mall of America who is leading a unionization drive with the Industrial Workers of the World. Similar campaigns have been started by the IWW, nicknamed Wobblies, all over the country since 2004.

The IWW represent a break from more traditional hierarchical unions because they focus on practical action, they call it solidarity unionism, rather than the bureaucratic and legalistic wrangling used by more traditional unions. They're also one of the few unions willing to take on big chains like Starbucks. At a time when decent jobs are increasingly going overseas, the long-maligned workers of the service industry could represent a new pool of strength for American unionism.

The Mall of America Starbucks IWW unionization effort was announced Monday by delivery of a letter to store management. The unionization effort at Starbucks in the Twin Cities is still relatively new. The IWW is open is open to contacts from other Starbucks workers who want to join, or people in the community who want to support them. They can be reached at 612-245-4871 or tcsbuxunion@gmail.com.]


(Pictured: Workers from the Mall of America Starbucks from City Pages, July 23)

Rhubarbarism: Can you start out by introducing yourself and telling me about your job?

Jake: Sure. My name is Jake Bell and I work at the Starbucks in the Mall of America. I've been working there since October 2006. Due to the rapid rates of turnover, I'm actually the second highest in terms of seniority in my store, including managers

Rhubarbarism: What’s a good overview of the situation that happened Monday?

Jake: Monday itself was not a particularly exciting day; one of my coworkers and I stepped off the floor and delivered a letter to our manager stating our demands, then we faxed a copy to the corporate office and strapped on our union pins. The intention for Monday's actions was not to do a work stoppage or walk off the floor in protest, simply to deliver the letter and make it known that we decided to form a union.

Rhubarbarism: What's the background behind the decision to form the union? How did it come to that?

Jake: Well my coworkers and I have all been talking about chronic problems that we have in our store for some time now. For instance, there is no air conditioner or fans in our store and it's about 100 degrees at all times. That's just one issue. In order to try and remedy these problems, we've approached our manager in all of the company-sanctioned ways: We've talked one-on-one to him, asked him nicely to make the changes, etc., but none of that ever worked.

They always pretend that they're listening and concerned about what we're saying, but at the end of the day we don't just want to be listened to. We actually want results.

Rhubarbarism: So it's the same reason workers have always formed unions, to effectively change their conditions of employment and give themselves a stronger collective voice?

Jake: Exactly. And I'm not sure if you've ever been to the Mall of America, but I would call the Starbucks there less of a coffee shop and more of a coffee factory. Since factory workers have unions, we should too.

Rhubarbarism: I haven't seen it, but I'm imagining a latte trough.

Jake: Yeah it's pretty intense.

Rhubarbarism: How popular is the idea of a union behind the counter?

Jake: The union idea is really popular, actually.

When my coworker Erik was fired (ostensibly for union organizing), we talked with a lot of Starbucks workers in stores around the city about working conditions, and people were very excited about a union.

Rhubarbarism: Can you give me an idea what the work environment itself is like?

Jake: Sure. It varies by season, of course; in the summer months and the holiday months, it's extremely busy all day. And the short-staffing doesn't help. Our store is right by the rotunda, which is where the mall holds all of its big events, which means that the noise level is very high on weekends especially. Also, we sell a lot of blended drinks in the summer, so our 3 blenders are whirring pretty much around the clock. So a good summary of the environment would be loud and busy.

Rhubarbarism: What sort of things would you all like to change about the environment or salary and benefits packages?

Jake: Regarding the "loud" and "busy" parts, we would like new blenders or blender shields to muffle the sound, and an end to under-staffing so that we can take our legally-mandated breaks and not have t

o, essentially, do two people's work for one person's wages

We would also like a couple of fans or -gasp- an air conditioner in our store.

About the pay and benefits: We are demanding a living wage of $13 per hour and an automatic 3% cost of living increase to make up for rate of inflation. And we are demanding a guaranteed minimum number of hours per week, so that we can stay above the 20-hour minimum and maintain benefits eligibility.

Rhubarbarism: Now Monday's action signaled an intent to form a union, there seems to be a little confusion about what this means in this case, can you explain how the IWW differs in its concept of unionism?

Jake: Well the IWW relies on a model called "solidarity unionism" to organize, which focuses on the strategy necessary to winning demands. So, if it is strategic to use the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] election process and that's what people in the shop want, than we'll do it. But the IWW believes that our power as workers does not lie in our legal rights, but rather in the fact that we make the goods, that we're the ones on the shop-floor doing the work.

Rhubarbarism: So is the IWW legally recognized at the Mall of America? Are you planning to go through NLRB elections?

Jake: Not at this point, but we'll see. There is also another issue with elections, particularly with Starbucks.

When the first Starbucks store organized with the IWW in NYC in 2004, they went the election route. They had a union majority in the store, and were set to win the election. However, Starbucks used its political pull to gerrymander the bargaining unit to include all of the stores in the NYC metro. Since the baristas in that one store could not possibly do that much outreach, the union withdrew the petition for the election because it was clear that we would not be able to reach all the workers before the election.
[Ed: Text in bold revised at the request of interviewees].

Rhubarbarism: Starbucks has had a relatively thorny history with labor since this campaign started, right? Can you tell me a bit about what's happened nationwide?

Jake: Yeah, they have. Most recently, a union organizer was fired from a store in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for some bogus attendance issues. But the company fired a number of union organizers in NYC in 2004 through 2006, though most of them got their jobs back through the NLRB.

The NYC baristas filed a ULP [Unfair Labor Practices] and the company was issued a subpoena demanding they release all of their documents relevant to the case, and they released a huge quantity of documents relating to their union busting efforts... [Ed: Statements removed from interview for legal reasons at request of interviewees]. It's pretty clear that they don't like unions and, in some cases, operate illegally to prevent them.

Rhubarbarism: People have been bringing up to me the fact that Starbucks has a pretty decent salary and benefits package by service industry standards of course, which would usually mean zero benefits, why do you think this sort of grassroots organizing has taken off all over the country against this employer?

Jake: Well I don't think that it's just among this employer. A couple of years ago, there were huge union campaigns in Borders bookstores, and I know of a number of IWW campaigns in service-industry companies across the nation that are not yet public as unions.

Unions are making a resurgence across the board. Prices are up, wages and conditions are down, and workers are getting sick of it.

Rhubarbarism: How does that relate to the proliferation of these chain and service industry jobs? And why have more traditional unions ignored these service workers?

Jake: Well I think the job market is not as good as everyone wants to pretend it is. It's really hard to find good jobs these days, and frankly there aren't enough good jobs in this system to go around.

I mean, capitalism essentially requires that a majority of the people actually do the work for as little money as possible while a minority of people oversee them and profit off their labor. It isn't possible for everyone to have a well-paying job in the current system. Because of that, the standards are always rising. For instance, about a quarter of the employees in my store have college degrees and are generally overqualified for this job. The fact of the matter is that people have to pay the rent however they can.

Rhubarbarism: The news that Starbucks workers are trying to form a union seemed to bring about a lot of hostility that unionization of more traditional blue collar jobs doesn’t, on the Pioneer Press website for instance, why do you think that is?

Jake: We have more and more people being forced into the service sector.

Starbucks' PR department is pretty remarkable. People actually think that working at Starbucks is a good job, which is not the case. People are also under the misconception that all of the workers at Starbucks are bratty high-school kids or just part-timers, when in fact a lot of people rely on this job in a serious way. So people don't see this in the same light as a construction or truck-driving job, for instance. And, apparently, that means that we don't deserve to make enough money to live or something.

Rhubarbarism: It's obvious to me, having worked behind counters and in kitchens for years, that the economy has changed. It doesn't seem like many people realize how globalization has changed our work life. The decent blue collar jobs just aren't there like they were 20 years ago.

Jake: Yeah, you're right. And that's the thing about the service industry; they can't outsource behind-the-counter work. We're here to stay. Until they replace us with machines, we will demand that we be treated like human beings.

Rhubarbarism: So can you tell me what happened with Erik Forman?

Jake: Yeah, Erik was/is a coworker of mine who was fired last Thursday or union organizing by our district manager. The official reason was that he "violated the terms of his final written warning by discussing it with a peer."

So the whole story is that Erik received a final written warning (the step before a firing) for being a half-hour later after being on time for an entire year (his previous write-up was from May 2007). Then, a week later, they fired him for discussing the warning. They cited a "confidentiality agreement" that's in their policy that prohibits workers from talking about their write-ups.

Rhubarbarism: So he was fired for discussing his work conditions? What sort of penalties can a company face for violating a worker's constitutional rights like this?

Jake: We've since followed up with the NLRB and found out that it is illegal to prohibit workers from talking about wages, hours, and working conditions, including disciplinary actions. So we've filed a change and, chances are, he'll get his job back.

If the NLRB change goes through, the company will be forced to give Erik his job back with back pay, and post a notice in the back rooms of all stores in the area stating that they will refrain from breaking that section of the law again.

Rhubarbarism: Was the firing a motivating factor for actually forming the union?

Jake: Not so much, itself. It was more the support and solidarity that we saw when we were passing a petition to get Erik's job back that we decided to form a union. We realized that, by having brief discussions with people from other stores, a lot of us have the same problems at work and that we all want to do something about it. So this is the first step.

Rhubarbarism: Can you give me an idea of how the campaign, you called it solidarity unionism, might progress? How do you put pressure on a big chain like Starbucks?

Jake: It's hard to say. Starbucks is big, but at the end of the day, we do the work. If the workers say "no", they have to listen.

Rhubarbarism: The professor quoted in the Pioneer Press article seemed a little disdainful of Wobbly tactics, like the workers certainly wouldn’t mess with the IWW if the big unions cared, why would workers be attracted to the tactics of the IWW in contrast to the big unions?

Jake: There are a number of problems with big unions. For one, they are not democratic. They think that their power lies in their bargaining power and their ability to move contracts. Often, the union leadership is disconnected with people on the shop-floor and, essentially, becomes another bureaucrat. With the IWW, the decision-making and power always remains with the workers on the shop-floor.

We do not believe that unions are magic; for the IWW, unions are really just workers coming together and exercising power in groups.

Rhubarbarism: Have you received any support from mainstream labor organizations?

Jake: My father and grandfather are in the Teamsters and UAW, respectively, and they're very supportive. Does that count?

We haven't heard from any mainstream unions yet.

Rhubarbarism: Can you touch on the IWW history?

Jake: Sure. The IWW was started in 1905 in Chicago. Up until the 1930s and 1940s it was a major force in the US labor movement in many different industries. But it sort of died out in the middle of the century through a combination of red scare and anti-union politics.

Rhubarbarism: What's going on with the union these days?

Jake: It's really popular among workers that, as you mentioned, other mainstream unions won't deal with, like in the service industries or immigrant workers.

Rhubarbarism: It's interesting to me that it's been one of the only unions organizing chain businesses. How funny that a union based out of such industrial roots is the one organizing at the Mall of America, the mecca of American consumerism that it is.

Jake: What better place to start than at the center of the whole thing.

Rhubarbarism: What's the atmosphere like at work now, just red and black banners, and the radio blasting Joe Hill songs? How has management dealt with the unionization?

Jake: It's been pretty low key. The management is pretty nervous, actually. It's pretty cool to see that dynamic reversed; usually workers are scared of management, but it's the other way around now. They're scared of us.

We've also been visited a number of times by the company brass in the last couple of days. One of my coworkers was intimidated by a district manager about his pin.

Rhubarbarism: People in general seem rather skeptical of unions. As a former Teamster, funny enough of the Law Enforcement local, I almost felt like the union was one more set of bosses who wouldn't touch most issues that workers cared about unless it benefit them.

How, for instance, are dues collected [in the IWW]? Who does it go to?

Jake: I think you're right about that.

The IWW is different. Dues are not collected automatically out of paychecks like with other unions. Workers choose to pay the dues if they want to be in the union. It's a voluntary association.

In fact, you don't even have to pay dues. It's nice if you do, so that we can all support each other, but the focus is really not on dues at all. We just want you to join the struggle, and all that other stuff is secondary.

Dues are really cheap, also. I pay $6 per month.

All of our dues money goes to funding our organizing efforts. We use it to make copies, or to support workers who have fallen on hard times. There is only one paid staffperson in the whole union, and other than that it's completely volunteer run. For us, it's not about dues. It's about making our workplaces and lives better.

Rhubarbarism: Have there been any recent developments since Monday? Will the unionization effort spread to other stores? What's in the future?

Jake: It's hard to say what's in the future for our campaign. I can't say too much without tipping our hand. Let just say it's going to be huge.