World's first Starbucks strike

Unite: Worlds First Starbucks Strike Spreads to 10 Stores "Workers from stores across Auckland walked off the job today to join the world’s first Starbucks strike, held on Auckland’s counter-culture café strip, Karangahape Rd, New Zealand. What began as a small protest by workers from one store became a city-wide strike when Starbucks workers heard that managers would be brought in to cover the shifts of the striking K’Rd workers..." [More] Kiwis are again leading the way for the rest of the world. This is certainly one way to meaure how far Unite has come as a union - to be able to unionise and organise a Starbucks store, arguably one of the icons of American globalisation and anti-union practices, and to do so in New Zealand, where the retail and cafe sector have traditionally seen low unionisation rates. You can be sure that Starbucks local management have been fighting this hand and foot. You can guarantee that there will be further resistance throughout Restaurant Brands, which owns Pizza Hutt, Starbucks and KFC, but it will be interesting to hear where and when the next Starbucks strike is.