NYC Workers Fight Bosses, Rain on May Day
Submitted on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 1:15pm
By Diane Krauthamer
Despite the torrential late spring rain, thousands of workers spent their May Day marching and rallying through the streets of Manhattan, displaying solidarity with workers at home and abroad. New Yorkers celebrated this international workers’ holiday with actions, events, marches and rallies, coordinated by a number of labor unions, community associations, political parties and non-profit organizations. In the spirit of celebration, the New York City IWW marched on Starbucks to demand that the coffee giant treat its workers with respect.
Beginning with a 2:00 pm a rally in the heart of Chinatown, the IWW joined hundreds of individuals from community and labor organizations to demand “Equal Rights for All Workers.” IWW members Stephanie Basile and Vance Hinton delivered powerful speeches on top of the soapbox.
“May 1st is the real Labor Day. They want us to forget that, but we’ll never forget. It was through collective action that those before us made the gains we currently enjoy today,” Basile said.
“It was through collective action that we won the 8-hour workday, the right to form a labor union, and wage and hour laws,” she added.
Hinton spoke about the necessity of workers organizing at retail stores and warehouses, specifically at Starbucks, where he currently works.
“The next time you walk into a Starbucks, I want you to congratulate the baristas for all the hard work they put into making your drinks,” said Hinton, a union barista.
The rally was organized by the Break the Chains Alliance, and featured speakers from the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS), the Chinese Staff and Workers Association, and a few local progressive politicians. Additionally, the members of the Socialist Party-USA and the Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA) attended.
After the Chinatown rally, the crowd of approximately 700 people marched uptown to join thousands of workers in Union Square for an annual May Day rally, organized by the May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights. As the marchers approached the park, a few dozen IWW members and supporters broke away from the main group and headed to the Union Square East Starbucks—the second Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) shop to go public, and one of the many SWU shops in the U.S. that harbors union baristas. Most recently a barista from this shop, Anna Hurst, joined the SWU to fight for back wages after store manager Gwen Krueger denied her two weeks of work. Recently, former barista Sheanel Simon was fired, re-hired, and then fired again for participating in the union.
Armed with drums, leaflets, organic lollipops and signs reading such slogans as “No War But The Class War,” the Wobblies swarmed into the store to deliver gifts to the baristas, who were forced to work on an international holiday. Each barista was given a lollipop and a flier, and they were thanked for their hard work.
According to Union Square East SWU barista, Liberte Locke, the store’s management attempted to gather information on the actions prior to May Day.
“In the days leading up to the event, Krueger questioned several baristas about what the action would be. They certainly were not expecting lollipops,” said Locke.
During the action, Krueger and district manager Adler Ludvigsen helplessly watched as baristas thanked the IWW for their holiday gifts. Ludvigsen was overheard telling a customer that the union was "just a bunch of anarchists and communists."
The IWW then marched from Union Square East across the park to the 17th and Broadway Starbucks, where many union baristas have been mistreated and wrongfully reprimanded since going public with their union affiliation. Store manager “Little Mark” Vanneri fired former barista Sharon Bell for being a union organizer, and imposed disciplinary measures on current barista Henry Marin for his union involvement. The SWU organized a three day call-in action to Vanneri, from May 1 until May 3, to demand that he respect his workers and their right to organize.
At the action, management stood aghast at the end of the bar, looking extremely nervous as the IWW swarmed into the store. The managers grew confused when the Wobblies started handing out harmless organic lollipops and leaflets to baristas and customers.
Before leaving, the IWW banged on drums while chanting “What’s disgusting? Union busting! What’s outrageous? Starbucks wages!” for a number of minutes, and left without being kicked out. They stayed outside waving red and black flags before a torrential downpour hit. Locke said that baristas from both stores were happy that the union came in.
Despite being drenched, half the group maintained their fighting spirit and joined the rally in Union Square. The rally included a number of speakers and musicians from congressional leaders to indigenous artists. Thousands of workers marched in the pouring rain from Union Square downtown to City Hall. Some of the groups in attendance were Make the Road New York, YKASEC: Empowering the Korean-American Community, Jornaleros Unidos De Woodside, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), the New York Immigration Coalition, the Retail Action Project (RAP), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the African Services Committee, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) and the IWW.
The rain did not keep the IWW’s fighting spirit down. In fact, the spirit of May Day lasted throughout the night, as dozens of workers joined together at the NYC IWW office in Long Island City, Queens for a rooftop party. Miraculously, the rain cleared right in time for the Wobblies to finish off the holiday with union-made beer and a perfect view of the Manhattan skyline.