IWW - Baristas United

Baristas United is a union for all coffee shop workers, whether behind the counter, cleaning or delivering.

Baristas United is part of the Shop Workers Industrial Union of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The IWW union is controlled directly by its members and fights for better conditions today. The IWW also insists that working people are entitled to everything they produce, instead of getting a meagre share while company directors are worth millions.

It is a fact that today, most coffee shop workers are unorganised. Wages and conditions may vary from company to company and from shop to shop, but whatever the set up, baristas are all subject to the whims of company strategies that seek to reap maximum profits from the labour of coffee shop workers, while generally paying poor wages to the baristas who make those profits possible.

We were talking with a barista in a Starbucks in Manchester, and she said, 'You know, our management doesn't encourage us to be in a union'. And you know why... because with a union you'll get better treatment than you do without one.

No matter how good the job is, united you can do better!

So, if you want to organise a branch of Baristas United in your coffee shop, then you've come to the right place!

The best place to start is to get in touch with us. But before the first contact, it would be helpful (though not necessary) to know a few things about your workplace:

1) How many workers are there?
2) Does the company you work for have other shops or distribution lines in the area?
3) What percentage of people at your workplace would initially be excited about a union?
4) How many would be neutral or opposed?

Your local rep from Baristas United-IWW will be happy to talk with you about strategies for improving your working conditions. We can also provide you with assistance if you and your colleagues decide to organise a branch of Baristas United.

Here is some advice in the short term

You will want to keep any union talk, and general conversations about wages, benefits, hours, etc, out of the ears of management.

You will want to be a 'model employee' because you do not want to give management any reason to fire you. Your job is worth defending and improving.

Start a workplace diary, noting positive and negative comments from supervisors and managers. Keep notes from meetings, schedule changes, etc. Make sure you note when, where, why, etc. Save company memos and pay stubs, anything that you think will help your case.

Lastly, it is legal to talk about union organising and you have a legal right to organise to improve your working conditions.

But you should know that some of the most seemingly friendly companies have waged the most vicious union busting drives. The goal of keeping the campaign out of the ears of management is to do as much organising as possible before your campaign goes public.