retail and food
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in retail and the food industry around the world.
Direct action victory on health and safety at Starbucks, 2006
Making work safer through direct action - Daniel Gross and Joe Tessone recount the actions of workers winning a small but significant victory on health and safety at a Chicago Starbucks outlet in 2006.
Requests have been routinely made and ignored for the purchase of a stepladder. It is vital for our safety that we have a stepladder available to use for such tasks as changing light bulbs, reaching boxes on high shelves, and cleaning ceiling tiles. Currently, we are forced to balance ourselves on unstable café tables to accomplish tasks in hard to reach places.
South London Solidarity Federartion Starbucks solidarity leaflet
South London Solidarity Federation's leaflet used on Starbucks solidarity pickets in PDF.
IWW warehouse workers branch sacked
Members of the Industrial Workers of the World, organises at New York warehouses were sacked over the festive period, in retaliation for their successful unionising drive.
On January 2nd 2007 at 5:00AM workers from the Food Industry and Allied Workers Union (Industrial Workers of the World, I.U. 460/640) and supporters will bring in the New Year with a march and picket line.
Ireland: Domino's drivers on strike
Workers at the Tallaght branch of Domino's Pizza went on strike Friday night over wages.
Around 50 drivers refused to work the evening shift on Friday from 5pm, they then picketed out workers at the Walkinstown branch from 8pm, persuading around seven drivers to come out despite management threats that they would sack any drivers who joined the strike. The picket ended at 9pm due to bad weather at which point drivers from both branches went home.
Iceland workers to strike over Christmas
365 workers at the Iceland distribution depot in North London will begin a series of one and two day strikes starting on the 8th December.
The workers are formally emplyed by DHL, but any pay increases have to be first authorised by Iceland according to the T&G union. The depot, which employs 250 warehouse operatives and 115 drivers supplies food to 180 Iceland stores in London, the South East and East Anglia. The T&G expects the strike to affect stocks in Iceland stores during the run up to Christmas.
JJB steward sacked
Only weeks after JJB workers scored a massive victory over anti-union boss Dave Whelan, their union (GMB) is under serious attack. One steward has been sacked and the convenor is facing disciplinary action as well.
JJB boss Whelan is notoriously anti-union and pro-poverty. His own personal fortune of £200 million is creamed from the low wages of his own staff. In 1997 workers forced JJB to increase wages. In 2006 the workers at the Wigan distribution depot took five days of strike action to secure improved and fair pay for all employees.
1913: Wheatland Hop Riot
A brief history of the riot that occured at Wheatland in Northern California after a meeting of farm labourers of the radical union the IWW was broken up by police.
Agricultural labour in the hop fields of California was amongst the most strenuous, badly paid and time consuming labour that a worker could undertake in early 20th century America. The situation of the hop pickers who worked at the Durst Ranch, the single largest employer of agricultural workers in the state, near the Northern California town of Wheatland in 1913, was no different.
Striking olive harvest workers in Spain, 2005
Article about the agricultural industry in Spain, and the strike of mostly immigrant olive harvest workers in 2005.
Action against Nestle factory closure, Marseille, 2004
Information about an action and assembly taken against closure of a Nestle factory in France, October 2004.
Strike at McDonalds, Paris, August 2004
A brief account and information about a CGT union strike at the McDonald’s Place d’Italie branch in Paris in 2004.
