Royal Tyrrell Museum says summer camp gender quotas ensure girls are included

A 77.3 million-year-old daspletosaurus on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumeller, Alta. 

Ryan White
CTVNewsCalgary.ca

April 20, 2022 
A world-renowned paleontology museum in Drumheller, Alta. says the withholding of dinosaur summer camp spots based on gender is designed to encourage girls to participate.

Each week of the Royal Tyrrell Museum's junior (ages nine through 12) and senior (ages 13 through 17) summer science camps are limited to a maximum of 36 participants, with 12 of the spots reserved for girls.

Campers will have the opportunity to screen wash and sort real fossils, and prospect for dinosaurs.

Parents and guardians are asked at the time of the $819 per week booking to disclose which old-style prospector tent, assigned by gender, their child will be sleeping in during the camp.

In a statement to CTV News sent Wednesday morning, museum officials said the summer camps are inclusive and that bookings for the camp have been predominantly made for boys in the past, and this year was no exception.

"The Royal Tyrrell Museum strives to make sure all campers feel welcome and have fun at camp, regardless of their gender identity or expression. Even though the Badlands Science Camp is usually oversubscribed by boys, we’re ensuring girls also have the chance to participate.

"Registrations for the 2022 Badlands Science Camp opened on March 1. All spots for boys have been sold out since mid-March. There are 16 spots still available for girls for the five-week 2022 season, and we’re looking forward to those spots being filled."

The camp gender ratio no longer appears on the museum's website since CTV News first requested clarification. Museum officials did not initially answer CTV News' question on the participation of gender nonconforming campers, but, after the original version of this story was posted, issued a seond statement indicating that "All campers are welcome. Campers select a tent that fits their gender identity, or they have the option to request alternate arrangements."

For more information on this year's camp, visit Badlands Science Camp.

Why chess tournaments can be hostile for women and girls

 "The chess world isn't a safe place for us," says popular chess streamer Tallulah Roberts, aka "lularobs", recounting an incident at the blitz tournament of the Reykjavik Open 2022. 

Jamaal S. Abdul-Alim, 2013 Chess Journalist of the Year, explains "why chess tournaments can be hostile for women and girls".

 | Photo: Reykjavik Open

By Jamaal S. Abdul-Alim

by ChessBase
4/21/2022 –

When Tallulah Roberts – a British chess streamer who goes by the name lularobs - tweeted that she had been harassed by male players at a major chess tournament in Iceland, I didn't doubt her claims for one second.

The reason I never doubted Lula, as she calls herself on Twitter, is because I've witnessed this type of behavior several times in the 2010s when I used to take my then-teenaged daughter to chess tournaments throughout the nation.

Most of the harassment took place in Philadelphia, the so-called "City of Brotherly Love." It was there that my daughter and I encountered some of the creepiest creeps.

The author and his daughter after winning a "mixed doubles" prize at the 2013 National Chess Congress in Philadelphia.

In one case, a vigilant tournament director, Harold Stenzel, brought the harassment to my attention. Harold told me that one of my daughter's opponents was standing up over the chessboard and using a cell phone to take pictures. Supposedly he was using the camera to take photos of the position on the board, which isn't really necessary since chess players write down all their moves. Harold didn't buy the guy's explanation. He told the guy to stop taking pictures of my daughter and immediately told me about the incident so that I could keep an eye on him, which I did.

Later, when the game was over, my daughter shared even more disturbing behavior. She told me her opponent was making weird comments during the game. For instance, instead of saying "check" when he put her king in check, he would say "checky-poo" in a sing-song voice like what you would use if you were talking to a baby.

I don't know about you, but without being too vulgar, I'll just say that "checky-poo" sounds like a pretty suspect thing to say during a chess game. Saying something like that to a young girl smacks of pedophile vibes.

In another case, I found a spectator talking to my daughter while she was minding her own business playing on her iPad after her game was over. "What's going on here?" I asked the guy. He said he was talking to my daughter about a chess program he was trying to start. Then he tried to pivot to asking me – as a well-known chess journalist – to write about the program. I told him I wanted to know what possessed him to think it was OK to talk to my daughter instead of her parents.

"What, do you think she's here by herself?" I asked him. "I'm her father."

At that point the guy squared up, almost as if he wanted to fight. He questioned why I wouldn't support his program by writing about it.

Meanwhile, the guy's friend was trying to tell the guy that I was right to question him about talking to my daughter. "I have daughters myself and I'd be doing the same thing," the guy's friend told him.

Rather than escalate things, I just stood my ground as his friend escorted him away. I'm glad he left because I'd hate to make a scene at a chess tournament. Plus, truth be told, I really didn't want to fight this guy. Even though I'm 6'1", this guy stood at a good 6'4" and was in much better physical shape. I would have fought him if I had to, but I was relieved to see him walking away.

The point is this: If I felt apprehensive as a man potentially coming to blows with a much larger man over harassing my daughter, then how might a woman or a girl feel when a man harasses her?

It's easy to say "speak up" or "make a scene." But you never know what a person is experiencing or perceiving at the time, especially when dealing with unexpected harassment or belligerence.

In my case, as a Black man, I was worried that police might be called and just see two Black men fighting and take us both to jail. So I decided I wouldn't get physical with the guy unless he got physical with me.

So what exactly did Lula say happened to her at the Reykjavik Open chess tournament in April 2022?

'Consistently disrespected'

Once she returned to her home in the United Kingdom, Lula tweeted:

Feels safe to talk more about this stuff now I’m home. Myself + other female players were consistently disrespected by a minority of men at the tournament. One even pinched me on the waist when I walked past him in the tournament hall (games were going on, incl my own). #chess

Lula also raised questions about how young girls were supposed to deal with harassment at a chess tournament when she wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it herself at age 23. Specifically, she tweeted:

I’m an adult woman entering chess, but I have no idea how we expect young girls to navigate this landscape. The chess world isn’t a safe place for us, and it’s time to stop pretending these issues are in the past or that people are only sexist online. It’s 2022 and this happens.

Finally, she addressed how difficult it can be to report harassment, tweeting:

Some people don’t realise how difficult it is to report things like this, even outside of a lack of signposting/knowing HOW to report. Harassment make me feel so small + it’s so scary, bc usually it feels safest to be quiet, smile, + try to escape ASAP, rather than make a scene.

Lula basically said everything I had already felt as a father whose daughter had been subjected to creepy conduct at chess tournaments. Just like Lula, I, too, do not believe the average open chess tournament is safe for girls. And also just like Lula, I know from firsthand experience how a person would rather just hope the situation subsides rather than make a scene.

Facing reality

In order to confront sexual and other forms of harassment at chess tournaments, I think the chess world must first face certain realities.

The first reality the chess world has to face is that men – for the most part – are preoccupied with sex, particularly at chess tournaments.

This is not conjecture or opinion – what I'm saying is actually documented in "Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport," by Jennifer Shahade, a world-renowned chess player, educator and author. On page 5 of her book, Shahade reveals what male players have told her about how sex often diverts their focus in chess.

She writes of one 22-year-old amateur who told her jokingly: "I would be a grandmaster if only I could stop thinking about sex during the game for more than fifteen minutes. I think it would be easier if I was a woman."

But the problem is not confined to amateurs. Even grandmasters wrestle with thoughts of sex during chess tournaments. For instance, Shahade wrote that, according U.S. Chess Hall of Famer Alexander Shabalov, most men are thinking about sex for most of the game.

"With characteristic candor, the Latvian -born grandmaster tells me, 'In most games, I am thinking about girls for about fifty to seventy-five percent of the time,'" Shahade wrote.

But that's not how male chess players are portrayed in popular culture.

Unrealistic characters

As much as I loved "The Queen's Gambit," the 2020 Netflix hit series that sparked an online chess boom among girls during the pandemic – a time when in-person tournaments were cancelled – there was one major aspect of the storyline that I simply did not buy. What I didn't buy is how the central character, Elizabeth Harmon, got introduced to chess by Mr. Shaibel, the maintenance man at the orphanage where she was residing.

This is how The Queen's Gambit wiki describes their first encounter in the movie:

Beth saw Mr. Shaibel when she went to the basement to clean her chalk erasers and saw him playing chess. She was fascinated by the game and wanted to learn more about it. Having worked out how the pieces move by observing him, she asked him to teach her more. She lost many games, but began simulating chess games on the ceiling before sleeping, allowing her to quickly develop her skills and defeat him. Mr. Shaibel eventually contacted Mr. Ganz from Duncan High School, who coaches the chess team there. Mr. Ganz was so impressed with her skills that he invited her to come play the members of chess club, where Beth easily defeated all of them.

You can believe that storyline all you want. But if you think there is a such thing as whiskey-drinking custodians who teach 9-year-old girls about modern chess openings – and nothing else – in the basement of an institution away from all other adults, I would say you probably don't read many news articles, at least not crime news.

AS A FORMER HEAD CUSTODIAN I TAKE UMBERAGE AT THIS, THE WHISKEY DRINKING CUSTODIAN IS A STEREOTYPE AND THE IMPLICATION THAT CUSTODIANS IN SCHOOLS ARE PREDATOR PERVERTS IS ALSO DEEPLY OFFENSIVE AND STATISTICALLY INCORRECT

Headlines about adults taking indecent liberties with little girls in schools and other institutions are not hard to find. Just the other day in the Washington Post, I read about an IT specialist at a Virginia elementary school who was arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault and four counts of indecent liberties by a custodian.

The basis for the charges?

"According to police," The Washington Post stated, "four 8-year-old girls said they were inappropriately touched in an office at the school between March and April."

Yet, the chess world seems jaundiced about the prevalence of these kinds of incidents. Stories that present chess instructors as these benevolent and trustworthy characters gain critical acceptance rather than skepticism.

One example is "Lisa: A Chess Novel," by grandmaster Jessi Kraai.

Kraai told Chess Life Online in 2014 that he "had to write" the story of Lisa, a 13-year-old girl who sneaks off without her parent's permission to a grandmaster's cottage – wearing a tight tank top – to study chess.

According to an excerpt of the book, when the grandmaster – his name is Igor – opens the door, he meets Lisa with his belt buckle open and his pants soiled and barely hanging on his ass.

The book continues:

The giant man finally looked down and found Lisa. He began to examine her. And it was then that Lisa first saw real chess eyes. They were cold and wet, like a healthy dog’s nose, impolitely sniffing at all the things she couldn’t smell herself.

Are we to believe that Igor's "impolite sniffing" didn't involve anything untoward? I, for one, would find that hard to believe.

Take no chances

When I worked as an after-school chess instructor at a youth center in Washington, D.C., my supervisor at the time – we'll call her Janet – did not hesitate to prevent me from being alone with female students.

"Make sure this door is always open," Janet told me regarding the door to a small classroom where I had been teaching chess to a 17-year-old girl who – in addition to being a promising chess player – was an aspiring fashion model.

I took no offense to Janet's orders. She was just doing her job and trying to keep the organization – and me, for that matter – out of trouble.

Obsessed with sex

As long as men have active libidos, you can pretty much bet that they will hound and harass women in chess venues – whether in person or online.

For instance, one Saturday night after Lula shared her experience, I decided to check out the livestream of CryBabyCarly, another popular chess streamer on Twitch.

No sooner than I popped into CryBabyCarly's room, she was dealing with male players who were making bawdy remarks.

"See, this is why we don't have women playing chess," Carly said not long after I logged on to her livestream. "Because you guys come in here saying, 'Can you occupy my D-file?'"

For the uninitiated in chess, the D-file is one of the middle columns on the chessboard, which has columns A through H. The "D-file," in this case, was basically a double entendre – one meaning being in literal reference to the actual D-file but the other interpretation being a popular D-word for the male sex organ.

Nevertheless, Carly took all the bawdy remarks in stride and – from the safety of her livestream – made some slick remarks of her own. But there's a fundamental difference between online sexual banter and the type of harassment that Lula described having experienced at the Reykjavik Open.

Whereas Carly could simply boot or ban anyone she wants from her livestream, Lula found herself in a real-life physical environment where men who apparently did something unexpected could have responded in even further unpredictable ways.

I don't blame Lula for not knowing how to respond because, after all, I still agonize over whether I responded appropriately when I found that guy at the chess tourney in Philly talking to my daughter about his chess program. And I applaud Lula for being brave enough to raise the issue in the Twittersphere, even amid the skepticism that she would inevitably endure.

"Anyone who thinks I’d lie and risk trivialising the issue of gender-based harassment in chess, or risk losing everything I’ve spent a year building, and a game I love, clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about," Lula tweeted after naysayers and doubters began to cast suspicion over whether her accounts were true.


I, for one, don't need any convincing. To me, Lula's story only confirms what I've already known all along.

What can be done?

So what can be done to help prevent incidents like the ones Lula described from taking place at chess tournament venues in the future? I have a few thoughts.

1. Always have a parent or chaperone: Whenever girls who are minors go to a chess tournament, they should be accompanied by a parent, a guardian, some other family member or a female chaperone who will pretty much always be in the midst. A male chaperone just won't do, especially when it involves overnight stays in a hotel. If you're not in a position to accompany your daughter or young female relative to a tournament, you need someone with some strict "auntie vibes" to keep your girls safe.

2. Bring a buddy or a companion: As much as young women ought to be able to travel solo to a chess tournament, it helps to bring a friend, boyfriend or girlfriend. That way if something goes down, they can at least be a witness to what takes place but hopefully they can also help you gather your thoughts or intervene. If you can't afford to bring anyone, try to make some acquaintances at the tournament. There's strength in numbers.

After tweeting about her experience at the Reykjavik Open, Lula added: "One thing I want to highlight is that there were also male players I met at the event who I felt safe with, who walked me home late, who checked if I made it back okay, + offered to speak with the guys doing us wrong. I’m so grateful for them + they made a huge difference for me."

3. Seek out tournament directors for help

A big part of fighting harassment at tournaments lies with the tournament directors. Fortunately, as I mentioned previously, I had the benefit of a vigilant tournament director named Harold Stenzel who kept me posted on shady things he saw my daughter's opponent doing.

Tournament director Harold Stenzel helps NY State Scholastic Primary Champion, Liam Putnam, hold up her trophy at the 2017 NY State Scholastic tournament.

Granted, Harold was aware that I am a chess journalist who is almost always on assignment when I'm at a chess tournament, and some people might read this and conclude that my status as a member of the press factored into his decision to tell me what he saw. It's true that Harold has been a longtime trusted source of mine. But whatever the case, I'm just glad Harold told me what he saw, and I trust that the more these issues are brought to the attention of tournament directors, the more tournament directors will be on the lookout for inappropriate behavior toward female players.
A more welcoming environment

Beyond being more vigilant against harassment, I think tournament directors can build on what they're already doing to create a more inviting environment for women.

Perhaps more "mixed doubles" prizes would foster more positive interactions between male and female players, especially since female players are so scarce. If men want a mixed doubles prize – a prize where bonus money goes to the male-female team withe best overall combined score – male players, at least theoretically, will have to learn how to approach women – and in the case of girls, their parents or guardians – with respect.

Tournament directors might also want to explore having "skittles" rooms or lounges exclusively for women and girls. With my daughter, for instance, the guy I found talking to her once tried to strike up a conversation with her in the skittles room and offer "advice" on how she could have won her games. I couldn't always be there to stop it because I'd still be playing a tournament round myself.

I also like all-girls tournaments like the one that Garry Kasparov holds each year in Chicago. I've taken my daughter to that tournament in the past and we didn't face the kind of issues we faced at open tournaments.

Above all, the chess community needs to keep discussing this issue of how women are experiencing chess tournaments around the world. In that regard, Lula's tweet about her experience at the Reykjavik Open is an important first step.

This article was first published on vocal.media. Republication with kind permission.
Links:

The original article by Jamaal S. Abdul-Alim on vocal.media

Pragg beats Gukesh after sudden twist, wins Reykjavik Open

Starbucks Files Complaints with Labor Board, Accuses Union Organizers of Bullying and Harassment

Starbucks argues it's protecting its employees and customers; the union says the move is more attempted union-busting from the coffee giant.

By Mike Pomranz

April 21, 2022

Starbucks has made their stance on unions very clear. Since the return of former CEO Howard Schultz this month, encouraging employees not to unionize has been his primary talking point. Admittedly, that's the company's prerogative: As Schultz wrote last week, "The law gives our partners a right to organize, and it also protects the right to work without having a union." But just how far will Starbucks go to ensure to push for the latter?

This week has seen another escalation in Starbucks' union-dissuading actions: On Wednesday, the chain filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Starbucks Workers Union organizers in Denver and Phoenix had used unfair labor practices in violation of federal law, reportedly the company's first time taking this action.

According to the filings, Starbucks claims that organizers were exhibiting behavior that "was reasonably expected to physically intimidate and bully partners and customers in retaliation for their withholding support of Workers United."


CREDIT: WALDO SWIEGERS / BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

In a statement from Starbucks spokesperson, the company told us, "The Unfair Labor Practice charge was filed to protect the physical safety and emotional wellbeing of our partners and customers and to make it clear that the intimidation, bullying and harassment we're seeing from some union organizers is not acceptable."

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Starbucks Senior Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs, AJ Jones, went so far as to say that some partners had asked the company to intervene.

However, the Starbucks Workers Union, of course, had a different take. "These charges are a continuation of Starbucks' war against its own partners. It takes a lot of gall for a company that's launched one of the most aggressive and intense anti-union campaigns in modern history to file these charges," the group said in a statement provided to Yahoo. "Starbucks is getting desperate as it loses this war in battle after battle, because we — the Starbucks partners — continue to organize and fight for a real voice within the company. These charges are just the latest example of that desperation."

At this point, over 200 Starbucks locations have filed paperwork to hold union votes, according to CNBC, and of the 26 votes that have taken place to date, 24 stores have voted in favor of unionization while only two have voted against it.

Starbucks’ union battle is getting aggressive and expensive, and Wall Street is backing away

PUBLISHED THU, APR 21 2022
Amelia Lucas@THXAMELIAN

KEY POINTS

Starbucks shares have fallen 12% since Howard Schultz took the reins on April 4.

Wedbush Securities and Citi Research both downgraded shares to neutral in April, citing the coffee chain’s growing union push among other concerns.

Starbucks risks its long-held reputation as a progressive company the longer it battles union efforts.


Members react during Starbucks union vote in Buffalo, New York, U.S., December 9, 2021.
Lindsay DeDario | Reuters

When Starbucks announced Howard Schultz would return to the company as interim CEO, investors cheered. His first tenure as chief executive turned the company into a global brand and his second, years later, revived both the business and its stock price.

But the applause has since quieted as Wall Street forecasts that the coffee giant will keep spending money in its effort to stem a unionization tide.

The stock has slid 12% since Schultz took the reins on April 4, dragging the company’s market value down to $92.2 billion. The S&P 500 fell just 2% in the same time period. Wedbush Securities and Citi Research both downgraded shares to neutral ratings in April, citing the labor situation and other concerns.

Starbucks stock during Howard Schultz’s third term

The coffee chain’s shares have underperformed the S&P 500 since Schultz’s return on April 4.

The recent tension follows months of buildup.

In late August, company-owned Starbucks cafes in Buffalo, New York, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. Since then, more than 200 of the coffee chain’s locations have filed the paperwork to unionize. To date, 24 stores have voted to unionize under Workers United, with only two locations so far voting against.

To be sure, these locations represent a small portion of Starbucks’ nearly 9,000 company-owned U.S. cafes. But analysts and industry experts are concerned Schultz isn’t taking a frugal approach to curb the union push.

“It’s hard to avoid the reality of the situation – that addressable problems in the near term are probably much more expensive and time consuming to bear results,” JP Morgan analyst John Ivankoe wrote in a note to clients on April 11.

Pay and benefits

In October, when Kevin Johnson was CEO, the company announced two wage hikes for all of its baristas that would take effect this year and bring its average wage up to $17 per hour. In late March, Starbucks Workers United warned Schultz could leverage those improved benefits in an attempt to curb the union’s campaign.

Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment at the time, but Schultz appeared to confirm the strategy on his first day back on the job when he announced that Starbucks would suspend all stock buybacks to invest back into the company’s people and cafes.

In meetings with U.S. store leaders last week, Schultz said the company was weighing improved benefits for all its workers, but that federal labor law precludes the chain from giving higher pay or making other changes to the terms of employment for unionized workers. Labor experts say that’s technically true, but Starbucks can still ask the union if those baristas want the enhanced benefits.

Higher benefits could dissuade baristas from organizing, but Wall Street is worried that strategy may come at too high a cost.

Citi Research analyst Jon Tower wrote in a note on April 11 that either wage hikes or growing momentum behind the unionization efforts would make him more bearish on the stock.

There’s also the risk that Starbucks hikes worker pay, but the initiative doesn’t stave off unionization efforts.

“Starbucks has made the job of being a barista so much more challenging that even if they ‘solve the wage and benefit issue,’ I don’t think that’s necessarily going to stop or slow down the unionization push,” said Nick Kalm, who has advised other companies on how to deal with unionizing workers, strikes and lockouts as founder and president of Reputation Partners.

While organizing baristas have mentioned the low pay gains for more senior staff and other benefits issues, contract negotiations at its Elmwood location in Buffalo, New York, have focused on “just cause” firing, stronger health and safety policies, and allowing customers to tip with credit cards. The union is planning to ask for higher wages and benefits as well.

Reputational risk

With each new union counterstrike, Starbucks is also risking its long-held reputation as a progressive company.

“Our conversations with several union experts suggest that the greatest financial risk to Starbucks is market share loss and deterioration in brand perception if the union battle continues to make headline news,” BTIG analyst Peter Saleh wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.

Saleh lowered his price target on the stock from $130 per share to $110 but maintained his buy rating.

The Seattle-based company garnered a reputation as a generous employer by offering its workers health care, paid leave and other benefits decades ago, a rarity in the restaurant industry at the time and even today. The company has also been vocal in its support of same-sex marriage, hiring refugees and other liberal causes, further bolstering its image as a bastion of progressive capitalism.

While conservatives have threatened boycotts of the company before, its stances drew in progressive employees – like those pushing for a union today – and customers.

But the union has alleged union-busting activity by the company, including firing organizers and cutting barista hours at unionizing locations. The NLRB has filed three complaints against Starbucks, alleging that the company illegally retaliated against organizing baristas. Starbucks has denied all allegations of union busting and filed two complaints of its own with the NLRB on Wednesday, alleging that the union broke federal labor law by intimidating and harassing its workers.

If your whole mantra is being a very progressive company, it becomes very difficult for you to reconcile strong anti-union messages with that.”

Nick Kalm

PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF REPUTATION PARTNERS

Starbucks’ response to the union push could turn off investors who pick stocks with environmental, social and governance values in mind. An investor group led by Trillium Asset Management urged Starbucks to adopt a neutral policy toward union efforts. The group said in March that it holds at least $1.2 billion in Starbucks shares.

“If your whole mantra is being a very progressive company, it becomes very difficult for you to reconcile strong anti-union messages with that,” Kalm said. “And that’s where they’re finding themselves, and it is going to take a reputational toll. Now, at the same time, people are strangely addicted to Starbucks products.”

One such conflicted customer is Clarissa, a 33-year-old in Taos, New Mexico, who describes herself as “a bit of a peppermint mocha or blonde roast addict.”

She hasn’t patronized a Starbucks cafe since Feb. 13, citing how the company has dealt with unionizing workers. Her personal boycott breaks a two-decade-long streak of visiting the coffee chain at least five times every week.

“I still have $6.70 on my Starbucks Gold card that is likely just sitting there because I won’t go back after their union busting,” she said.

But not everyone’s soured on the company. BTIG surveyed 1,000 Starbucks customers on their allegiance to the coffee chain if it fails to agree on a contract with Starbucks Workers United. Only 4% of respondents said they would never visit a Starbucks again, and 15% said they would visit less frequently.

More than two-thirds of consumers surveyed said it wouldn’t impact their visit frequency at all.

Neuberger Berman analyst Kevin McCarthy said he’s sticking with the stock because of his belief in the company’s long-term prospects under Schultz’s leadership. The investment firm had $460 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31.

“It’s the Howard 3.0,” McCarthy said. “I’m hopeful that his credentials and historic track record with being able to come back to the business and reinvigorate will be constructive for the company in the long term.”

Workers at Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle vote to unionize

April 21, 2022 

Emily Sirisue jumps up to cheer after employees at the Starbucks Roastery on Capitol Hill voted to unionize on Thursday. 

(Ellen M. Banner / The Seattle TImes)


By
Heidi Groover
Seattle Times business reporter


Workers at a second Seattle Starbucks location have joined the nationwide wave of unionization at the coffee giant — this time at one of the company’s flagship roastery locations.

Employees at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, at Pike Street and Melrose Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, voted 38-27 to unionize with Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. About 100 workers were eligible to vote, and three ballots were challenged. The National Labor Relations Board announced the vote count Thursday.

The vote shows “we’re really just hitting the gas with this movement,” said barista Liz Duran.

Starbucks said in a statement Thursday, “We will respect the process and will bargain in good faith. … We hope that the union does the same.”

The vote follows ​​a unanimous vote to unionize at another Capitol Hill location last month, the first in the latest unionization wave to happen in the company’s hometown. A handful of other Seattle locations have also announced union campaigns, and workers at two locations walked off the job last week.

Nationwide, workers at more than 200 company-owned Starbucks locations have filed for union elections or announced they plan to unionize. About two dozen stores have voted to unionize, and two have voted no. Workers at some licensed Starbucks locations in airports and grocery stores are already unionized.

Starbucks has more than 8,000 company-owned stores. But the Starbucks Reserve Roasteries are a less common and more specialized company offering. Starbucks has just six of them around the globe, calling them “theatrical, experimental shrines to coffee passion.”

The sprawling Capitol Hill location opened in 2014 — complete with a “Coffee Experience Bar” and pizzeria — as Starbucks sought to double its annual revenue and attract customers throughout the day. It has since become an often-crowded tourist draw.

Employees say working at the Roastery comes with increased expectations and responsibilities, but without the pay to match.

The employees work in a “completely full-service environment,” said barista Brennen Collins. “We’re busing tables. We’re crafting a story. … We’re generally making as much as the core Starbucks, while also having all these increased expectations — all on top of working inside of a pandemic.”

In a February letter to then-CEO Kevin Johnson, workers at the roastery wrote that they wanted a “safer, fairer, more inclusive, more transparent and more welcoming” workplace.

“Especially through this pandemic, we have encountered intense and unique struggles in our workplace,” wrote the workers, whom the company refers to as partners. “Through it all, we have been flexible and resilient to the ever-changing nature of the pandemic. However, our concerns and our safety have not been at the forefront of decision making that directly affects our partners.”

Starbucks said in a statement that workers at roasteries do not take on more responsibilities than workers in other locations. “To suggest one partner takes on more responsibility isn’t true to who we are as partners,” spokesperson Sarah Albanesi said. “Jobs and roles are different but all partners carry the same pride and expectations for their individual roles.”

Duran, who has worked previously in union workplaces, said unionization offers protection against discrimination. “Being a queer individual, having those layers of protections is something that was really valued,” Duran said. “That’s the big core of unionizing: having others there to have your back.”

Earlier this month, the union won another election at a Reserve Roastery in New York City.

After the Seattle vote count wrapped up, workers who had gathered to watch the count at Seattle Central College cheered and then quickly turned to business, reminding each other of their Weingarten rights to have a union rep in investigatory meetings that can lead to discipline.

Like at other stores that have unionized, employees at the Roastery heard anti-union talking points from managers, Collins told his coworkers.

“It’s understandable that some people are going to be scared and that’s OK,” Collins said. “The union is still going to represent people even if they voted no.”

Starbucks and the union have clashed for months, with the union accusing the company of wrongly punishing pro-union workers and Starbucks this week alleging union organizers blocked entrances to stores in Denver and Phoenix and intimidated employees who didn’t support unionizing, CNBC reported.

Since Howard Schultz returned to the company as interim CEO this month, he has criticized the unionization efforts and begun discussing improved benefits for employees that he said could not legally be extended to those who voted to unionize. While it’s true companies can’t unilaterally change working conditions without bargaining once employees have unionized, employers can ask workers if they want the benefits.

Seattle Starbucks Reserve Roastery workers vote to unionize

The flagship location joins several other Starbucks locations demanding "basic rights" while they're working, saying they're "overworked and underpaid."

Author: Brady Wakayama, 

KING 5 Staff
April 21, 2022

SEATTLE — Employees at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle voted to unionize Thursday becoming the second roastery to join the union.

SB Workers United said workers approved the vote 38-27. Thirty-five votes were needed for the union to move forward.

Employees at the flagship store in the Capitol Hill neighborhood joined the unionization effort in February.

In a letter to then-President and CEO Kevin Johnson, those who support the unionization effort at the store said the primary goals were to "create an elevated work experience for everyone." Employees at the Seattle Reserve Roastery were the second group of flagship store employees to file a petition to join Starbucks Workers United. Employees at a roastery in New York City were the first to file a petition.

Baristas at a Starbucks store in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District went on strike Thursday morning “over unfair labor practices after a barista was asked to leave over union apparel.” Employees picketed at the store, located at 505 5th Ave S in Seattle, Thursday morning.

Two Seattle Starbucks locations also went on strike last week. Workers at the Fifth Avenue and Pike Street location and the location on Eastlake Avenue alleged Starbucks was threatening workers and retaliating against union leaders. Workers believe staff is overworked and underpaid.

The pickets follow a larger effort at Starbucks stores in the Seattle area and across the country to hold union elections. At least 140 more stores in 27 states have filed petitions for union elections.

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Apple Store workers in Atlanta are the first to formally seek a union.

The petition for a union vote continues a trend of organizing at service-sector employers like Starbucks and Amazon.

Employees at the Apple store at Grand Central Terminal have begun signing cards that could lead to filing for a unionization vote.

Credit...Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images


By Noam Scheiber and Kellen Browning
Published April 20, 2022Updated April 21, 2022, 1:34 a.m. ET


Employees at an Apple store in Atlanta filed a petition on Wednesday to hold a union election. If successful, the workers could form the first union at an Apple retail store in the United States.

The move continues a recent trend of service-sector unionization in which unions have won elections at Starbucks, Amazon and REI locations.

The workers are hoping to join the Communications Workers of America, which represents workers at companies like AT&T Mobility and Verizon, and has made a concerted push into the tech sector in recent years.

The union says that about 100 workers at the store — at Cumberland Mall, in northwest Atlanta — are eligible to vote, including salespeople and repair technicians, and that over 70 percent of them have signed authorization cards indicating their support.


In a statement, the union said Apple, like other tech employers, had effectively created a tiered work force that denied retail workers the pay, benefits and respect that workers earned at its corporate offices.

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Workers said they loved working at Apple but sometimes felt they were treated like second-class employees. “We want equal to what corporate actually gets,” said Sydney Rhodes, an employee at the store who is involved in the union campaign.

Ms. Rhodes, who has worked at Apple for four years, said that she and many of her co-workers hoped to continue working for Apple for years to come but that it was often unclear how they could progress within the company. “Another reason why we're working toward this union is for a more clear and concise way to grow, especially internally,” she added.

An Apple spokesman said the company offered strong benefits, including health care coverage, tuition reimbursement and paid family leave, and a minimum pay rate of $20 per hour for retail workers.

“We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members, and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple,” the spokesman said, but declined to comment on the union effort. The company would not say whether it would recognize the union voluntarily.

Officials at the National Labor Relations Board will next determine whether there is sufficient interest among workers to hold an election — the bar is officially 30 percent — and set the terms for a potential vote. Both the union and the employer will have an opportunity to weigh in on the details, including the universe of employees eligible to take part and whether the vote should occur by mail or in person.

Other unions, most notably Workers United, an affiliate of the giant Service Employees International Union that has led the organizing campaign at Starbucks, are also seeking to unionize Apple retail workers, of which there are tens of thousands in the United States.

Workers at an Apple Store at Grand Central Terminal in New York City have begun to sign authorization cards that could lead to a filing for a union vote that would allow them to join Workers United. The move was reported over the weekend by The Washington Post.

Activism and labor organizing at Apple have been building since last summer, when discontent over the company’s plan to require employees to return to the office snowballed into a broader movement, called #AppleToo. That movement aimed to highlight workplace problems like harassment, unequal pay and what workers described as a culture of secrecy that pervaded the company.

“Apple workers across every line of business and around the world are using their voices to demand better treatment,” Janneke Parrish, one of the #AppleToo leaders, said of the union effort. Ms. Parrish has said Apple fired her in retaliation for her organizing. “I’m so happy to see workers taking this big step to stand up for their rights,” she said. Apple has disputed Ms. Parrish’s accusations.

The #AppleToo movement included retail workers, who have said throughout the pandemic that Apple did not do enough to keep them safe from the coronavirus.

Retail workers’ complaints escalated late last year when the Omicron variant spread rapidly throughout the country and at least 20 Apple stores had to close temporarily as a precaution or because so many of their workers had become infected that the stores could no longer operate. On Christmas Eve, several dozen Apple workers walked off their jobs to demand better pay and working conditions.

Ms. Rhodes said that the effort at her store began in earnest last fall, and that her co-workers had taken encouragement from the union campaigns at companies like Starbucks and Amazon.

Beyond its overtures at Apple, the communications workers union has had a presence at Google in recent years, helping workers form a so-called solidarity or minority union that enables them to coordinate actions without holding a union election and seeking certification from the labor board. Companies are not required to bargain with minority unions, as they are with more formal unions.

The union also recently won a vote to represent about one dozen retail employees at Google Fiber stores in Kansas City, Mo., who are formally employed by a Google contractor. It is seeking to represent a few dozen Wisconsin-based quality assurance workers at the video-game maker Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft is acquiring, pending approval from regulators.

Workplace Ferment

Tim Cook Faces Surprising Employee Unrest at Apple
Sept. 17, 2021

For Retail Workers, Omicron Disruptions Aren’t Just About Health
Jan. 11, 2022

Noam Scheiber is a Chicago-based reporter who covers workers and the workplace. He spent nearly 15 years at The New Republic magazine, where he covered economic policy and three presidential campaigns. He is the author of “The Escape Artists.” @noamscheiber

Kellen Browning is a technology reporter in San Francisco, where he covers the gig economy, the video game industry and general tech news. @kellen_browning

INDIA

IT Employees Union Files Complaint Against Infosys Over New Non-compete Clause


Vanya Gautam

Updated on Apr 21, 2022, 12:09 IST

Highlights

They are likely to affect the employee’s means of procuring a livelihood for himself and his family

Infosys is reportedly looking to hire more than 50,000 employees

The clause reportedly includes these companies in their competitor list

Yesterday, a Pune-based IT employee union named NITES reportedly filed a complaint against Infosys. The employee union is seeking the removal of the newly imposed non-compete clause by Infosys.
What Does The Clause State?

The clause states that the employees cannot work for the competitor companies for six months after leaving the company.

That’s not all. The clause also restricts employees from joining the workforce of the clients they had worked for in the last 12 months before quitting, according to the letter to Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Labour and Employment.



Also Read: Indian Tech Giant HCL Aims To Solve High Attrition Problem With 'Hire To Retire' Platform

The clause reportedly includes these companies in their competitor list- Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), IBM, Cognizant, and Wipro.

The Letter To Labour Minister

As per the letter sent to the minister, the clause says “For the period of six months after leaving Infosys, employees will not — accept any offer of employment from any customer, (with whom I worked) in the twelve months immediately preceding my termination or accept any offer of employment from a Named Competitor of Infosys, if my employment with such Named Competitor would involve me having to work with a Customer with whom I had worked in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the termination of my employment with Infosys.”

The letter was written by the NITES union president, Harpreet Saluja, to the minister stating that the clause violates Section 27 of the Contract Act.

“They are likely to affect the employee’s means of procuring a livelihood for himself and his family. Hence the company should be stopped from enforcing it.” read the letter.
Infosys' Highest Attrition Rate

Recently, IT giant Infosys had also witnessed the highest level of attrition rate in the company, which worsened from 25.5% in the December 2021 quarter to 27.7% in the March 2022 quarter.

Infosys is reportedly looking to hire more than 50,000 employees in FY23 as against the 85,000 hired in FY22.

The company’s net profit for the March 2022 quarter rose about 12% to ₹5,686 crore with revenue growth of 22.7% year-on-year at ₹32,276 crore.

Mom furious Grade 8 students at Woodstock, Ont., school must make posters for anti-abortion group's contest

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The posters being made at Woodstock school will be graded, entered in Right to Life Coalition contest

Kate Dubinski · CBC News · Posted: Apr 21, 2022 2:23 PM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

The assignmentat St. Patrick's Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock, Ont., for students to make a poster for a contest by an anti-abortion group has caused controversy. (Submitted by Rachelle Lynne Dixon)

An Ontario Catholic school is under fire for a Grade 8 assignment that requires students to make anti-abortion posters for marks and the chance to win a cash prize. 

The assignment at St. Patrick Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock involves students creating a poster that includes the words "Unborn Babies Matter," along with a picture or pictures that incorporate the theme. The in-class assignment is being graded and entered in a contest run by a local anti-abortion group. 

"The parents weren't told about it, and they're not allowing the kids to learn about the opposite side of this issue," said Rachelle Lynn Dixon, whose daughter Kaydence, 13, alerted her mom to the assignment. "It's a Catholic school, but it's also funded by the public. It's an elementary school that is asking kids to Google images about abortion.

"I want her [Kaydence] to form her own opinion," added her mom. "I understand it's a Catholic school and it teaches Catholic beliefs, but we're living in a day and age where women's rights matter. With everything going on in the world, I don't think these kids need to have this added on top of it."

Kaydence Lee Dixon, 13, says a contest at the school asking her and other Grade 8 students to make anti-abortion posters is troubling. (Submitted by Rachelle Lynn Dixon)

Dixon spoke Thursday morning to the school, and said she plans to pull her two children from the Catholic system at the end of this school year.

She said it's problematic that the contest is being run by an outside group not affiliated with the church and that marks are being awarded alongside possible prize money is problematic.  

"It's not the teacher, it's not the school. It's not even the church. It's a competition through an outside group. If anything, this should have been a handout so if the kids want to participate, they can talk to their parents and do it on their own time," Dixon said. 

'Sanctity of life' teachings

Students in the class are learning the Catholic Church's view on the "sanctity of life" as part of the Grade 8 religion curriculum, and are given a poster assignment to complete on the topic, said Mark Adkinson, a spokesperson for the London District Catholic School Board. 

"Students may choose to create a poster that would fit the criteria for both the assignment and the optional third-party contest," he told CBC News in an email. 

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Kaydence plans to talk to her teacher and class about why she finds the assignment and contest troubling. 

"I think it is OK to talk about abortion with kids, but what's not OK is only teaching them about pro-life. I think instead of our current project, we should be allowed to make pro-choice posters and we should have a debate about the subject, as all opinions matter and everyone has the right to be heard," the teen wrote in a speech. 

Woodstock mom Rachelle Lynn Dixon is pulling her kids out of Catholic schools over an in-class anti-abortion assignment and contest. (Submitted by Rachelle Lynn Dixon )

An anti-abortion contest has been part of the Oxford County Right to Life group's offerings for the past 20 years, but this is the first time a teacher has used it as an assignment, said Mary VanVeen, who runs the group and said it is not affiliated with the Catholic Church.

"Right now, we have a cancel culture where people want to get rid of the people who have values. We hope students in Grade 7 and 8 think about human life, and express themselves in art, and have a discussion about it at home and school," VanVeen said.  

VanVeen's contest offers a $50 prize. The assignment on the blackboard offered a $150 prize, which a board spokesperson said was a typo. 

"Parents weren't told about this assignment. It says it can only be done in class. That is outrageous. I want my daughter and son to always come talk to me about anything they're disturbed about, not to be told not to do that by their teacher," Dixon said.

Tying the assignment to a contest gives students little choice, she said.

"One of Kaydence's friends tried to speak up about it in class, but her grades really matter to her. She's on the honour roll, graduating this year, so she ended up doing the project anyway, even though it made her uncomfortable." 

Dixon said she's proud of her daughter, who told her about the assignment and will speak to her teacher about her objections. 

Ontario Catholic religion curriculum where abortion is mentioned: 

Grade 6: Students must be able to "Articulate the Church's teaching concerning the Fourth & Fifth Commandments – "Honour your father and mother; You shall not kill" and apply these to the moral issues facing society today (e.g. sanctity of human life – abortion and euthanasia, dignity of the human person..."

Grade 7: Students must be able to "Summarize the moral teachings of the Church with regard to particular life issues (e.g. marriage, sexuality, cloning, abortion, genocide, euthanasia) and the social order (e.g. use of technology, economic injustices, environment)."

 

"I'm hoping her teacher will think that a healthy debate is a good idea on this topic. I am Catholic. I was baptized Catholic. I am a modern Catholic, and we live our lives with grace and love in our hearts. That's what being Catholic is to me." 

Dixon will be at the school Friday morning to protest the assignment and contest, and how it was delivered to children. 

The assignment doesn't allow for dissenting views and that's problematic, said Joyce Arthur of Abortion Rights Coalition Canada. 

"Kudos to this young girl. It took courage to speak up," she said. "It's really a violation of students' conscience and own beliefs, because they should be able to choose what they believe on this issue by themselves and not be influenced by Catholic doctrine, because it's basically a political issue." 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Dubinski

Reporter/Editor

Kate Dubinski is a radio and digital reporter with CBC News in London, Ont. You can email her at kate.dubinski@cbc.ca.