"...Following a lengthy trial here last year, a National Labor Relations Board judge has found Starbucks guilty of extensive violations of federal labor law in its bid to counter the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. In an 88-page decision, Judge Mindy E. Landow found, among other things, that Starbucks maintained multiple policies which interfered with workers' right to communicate about the union and about working conditions; terminated three workers in retaliation for union activity; and repeatedly discriminated against union supporters. The decision comes despite a 2006 New York settlement in which Starbucks pledged to stop illegal anti-union activities and mirrors federal government action against the company for its conduct toward baristas in Minnesota and Michigan.

"The judge's decision coupled with previous government findings expose Starbucks for what it is --- a union-busting corporation that will go to staggering lengths to interfere with the right to freedom of association," said Daniel Gross, a barista and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union found to have been unlawfully terminated by the coffee giant. "In these trying economic times of mass layoffs and slashed work hours, it's more important than ever that Starbucks and every corporation is confronted with a social movement that insists on the right to an independent voice on the job."

Source (http://www.anonym.to/?http://www.iww.org/en/node/4521).

This along with how workers were treated in Chicago demonstrates an alarmingly obvious yet growing trend with corporations (capitalists) to go as far as to break obvious laws in trying to continue their higher rate of exploitation because people sit by and let them because they're indolent, simply fobbing it off as "life in the real world".

The left has been using the legal system in the U.S. for some time now and hopefully this will be another step in developing a renewed class consciousness for the working class in the U.S. but more so the Western World all over. This is a massive win for workers all over the world. It goes to show that you can still stand up for your rights and prevail under a legal system dominated by corporate and "free market" influence.

Finally we get a recent example of a union truely pulling through within the boundries of the law. Let's see people try to downplay this decision. They clearly break laws and this will hopefully make people question what their own employer does and take action if needed.

they should confront my place of hire...
mutha fuckas.
welcome to my life.

It wouldn't even be so crap if they were actually GOOD at the business side of things. I mean seriously, not only are they fucking over their employees but they can't run the business itself properly. They recently closed hundreds of their stores outside of the US because they expanded so fast that they didn't actually ensure all of them were profitable - every single one of the stores in the city where I live was closed.
Talk about fail management

EDIT:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/29/news/companies/starbucks_australia/?postversion=2008072906

and to be honest I can't believe they can survive at all outside of Sydney.
They actually kept some open in Melbourne amazingly - Melbourne is the coffee capital. It has all these little independent cafe's tucked away in alleyways throughout the inner city, pretty much all of which are simultaneously cheap and awesome. (I guess they make their profits on the cakes and stuff... me, I'm just a caffeine addict).
I guess some of the starbucks near the big train stations might be the ones they kept, but it's beside the point - why on earth would you TRY to compete in this environment using starbucks business model in the first place?

What do they have to offer?
Atmosphere? ha
Quality? you're joking
Price? hardly (last time I was there it was like 2 or 3 dollars for a normal sized cup of coffee from most places)

While I get that Starbucks worked great in the US, a country where in the late 80s they'd just about got it across to the public that 'Coffee can help keep you awake and alert!"
But we took in thousands upon thousands of immigrants from southern Europe to build the snowy hydro - once that was done then came the cafes and restaurants. We're practically the only intentionally 'multicultural' country that comes remotely close to functioning - ya think MAYBE we might have a coffee culture?

I didn't mean this to be an "OMG I'M FROM AUSTRALIA, LISTEN TO THIS GUYZ" rant, but there's not any other way I can even begin to get across how utterly doomed to failure they were in this market. Generally Australia wouldn't be great, but Melbourne would quite simply be financially suicidal. (and it was)
Seriously attempting to compete with the locals in a city like Melbourne, where small local cafes were not only 'better' but could out-price them is so insanely moronic that I have to wonder what the hell their management was thinking.

Yet another blow to those who believe government non-intervention is the solution to our economic ail.

I just hope this is the first step to those CEO faggots hanging from lampposts!

Nah man.
The people you should be hating are the bastards who actually OWN corporations.
In the end asshole CEOs are working to make *them* rich, that is when they don't suck hard and lose money... which can be expected in a society where the social pecking order dictates those sort of job opportunities rather than proficiency.

This the only sensible thing I have ever heard from you.

I wonder if Parallax is reading this.

Fuck the wobblies.

Fuck the wobblies.

What are you, some rich boy faggot?