2011-07-26 "NYC Starbucks Union Barista Tiffany White Fired Day After She Goes Public" from "New York City IWW"
[http://wobblycity.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/nyc-starbucks-union-barista-tiffany-white-fired-day-after-she-goes-public/]
Company Continues Their Attack on Working Mothers Who Organize -
Union barista, and mother of two, Tiffany White was fired without cause on Thursday, July 21st 2011, just one day after publicly declaring her affiliation with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.
On Wednesday, July 20th, Fellow Workers Tiffany White and Liberte Locke of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (SWU) delivered a letter to FW Tiffany’s Store Manager Rafael Fox proudly announcing her membership in the SWU. The letter referenced the plight of working mothers at Starbucks, disrespected on a daily basis as they work to provide for their families on the low-wages that the coffee giant provides. The letter, written by FW Liberte and addressed to Rafael Fox, Regional Vice President Andrew Alfano and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, also pledges solidarity with the 200 Starbucks workers currently on strike in Santiago, Chile.
Theday after going public, FW Tiffany was cornered by her Store Manger, Rafael Fox, who ordered her to go downtown to speak with members of upper management. She demanded that a union representative and her attorney be present for the meeting, which was previously promised. She was refused representation and was fired on the spot. Police were called on Tiffany in spite of the fact that the only actual crime that took place was committed by Rafael, who broke federal labor law by firing FW Tiffany for engaging in legally protected union activity.
Tiffany is a young, fierce Black woman and a wobbly who was fired by a white store manager who in the past had threatened to call police on her husband for simply waiting in the store to pick her up after her shifts. Fox never threatened to call the cops on the partners of white employees, nor did he ever call the police after firing white employees.
Fellow worker Tiffany White had worked at the Canal/Broadway location for two years and was up for promotion before being wrongfully fired. However, Rafael told her that she would not be considered for a promotion to Shift Supervisor because she was a mother and would not have the time he felt was necessary to dedicate to Starbucks.
“I feel that everything they have done to my has been unfair, that Rafael Fox treated me unfairly in spite of the hard work and dedication I put into the store” said FW Tiffany.
Since FW Tiffany’s wrongful termination, wobblies and supporters have been engaging in a phone zap against the Store Manager Rafael Fox (860-559-6339) and the Distict Manager Melissa Tsui (917-553-2373) demanding that FW Tiffany be reinstated immediately.