Independent UK: Emails reveal Starbucks spied on staff looking to establish union

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:



Emails reveal Starbucks spied on staff looking to establish union
By Stephen Foley in New York
Published: 11 January 2008


Starbucks managers monitored internet chatrooms and eavesdropped on party conversations in a covert campaign to identify employees agitating for union representation at the coffee chain, internal emails reveal.

The correspondence has come to light after a long-running legal battle between the company and a union angry at being prevented from organising among Starbucks' 150,000-strong army of "baristas" and other employees.

The revelations come at a sensitive time, threatening to tarnish the chain's public image just as its pioneering chief executive, Howard Schultz, is trying to re-energise the company and attract customers back to its coffee shops.

In one email exchange, managers sought information about a Halloween party attended by employees, and reported how two people at the party had a discussion about union organisation. The conversation ended, one manager noted, because the two employees "were attracted to each other and this became the focus of their evening".

Starbucks says it does not prevent employees from organising into unions, they just don't want to. It has been fighting what it calls "disruptive" activity by the Industrial Workers of the World union since at least 2004, the emails make clear. "Below is a summary of the recent developments in New York City regarding our attempts to thwart a potential union situation," one three-year-old email begins.

The correspondence – leaked to The Wall Street Journal – came to light just days after Mr Schultz returned to the post of chief executive at the company he turned from a tiny Seattle business with just four stores into a global phenomenon. He has promised to put staff at the heart of a plan to revitalise the firm. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article3328444.ece