IWW Starbucks Union and Workplace Democracy

[KurtFF8]

I'm not sure if this should be here or in Worker's Struggles, so if it should be there could a mod move it?

So the IWW has recently been trying to union starbucks as many of you know: http://www.starbucksunion.org/

But from everything I've read or seen about this, it doesn't seem that their methods are "radical" or even attempting to establish workplace democracy and instead this process seems to be a more traditional process of unionization for America.

Is it just too soon for it to clearly be taking a radical form? Or is that even a goal of the effort?

[Enragé]

I'm not sure if this should be here or in Worker's Struggles, so if it should be there could a mod move it?

So the IWW has recently been trying to union starbucks as many of you know: http://www.starbucksunion.org/

But from everything I've read or seen about this, it doesn't seem that their methods are "radical" or even attempting to establish workplace democracy and instead this process seems to be a more traditional process of unionization for America.

Is it just too soon for it to clearly be taking a radical form? Or is that even a goal of the effort?


i don't know much about the situation but it seems to me rather obvious that you cant establish workplace democracy if you have no, or very few members in a workplace (which is apparently the case with starbucks). Also, establishing workplace democracy under capitalism is rather difficult (which is an understatement), though ofcourse councils can be formed of which the endgoal is to take over the business.

[KurtFF8]

But wasn't this what the IWW championed "back in the day"? It seems that they're simply functioning as a typical trade union here and that there isn't much "radical" about this organizing effort.

[gorillafuck]

This will still be better for the workers than no unions at all. They may have something more radical in mind, but under these conditions it would be very hard to establish workplace democracy.