THE RECENT UPROAR surrounding Starbucks has once again pushed the issue of tax-dodging, and its relation to austerity, into the limelight. Starbucks is one of the largest coffee chains in the U.K., and the second largest café/restaurant chain in the world. Yet, in the last three years they’ve paid no corporation tax at all in the U.K., despite making sales of £3.1bn. And on Saturday December 8th, despite their sudden agreement to pay back £20m of their £400m debt, U.K. Uncut and friends hit them with a wave of 40 protests and occupations around the country. And their execs’ new-found generosity to the tax man came with a hefty price tag – two days before they publicised the details of their ‘gift’, they also told over 7,000 staff how they’re cutting paid lunch breaks, sick pay, maternity leave and a string of other work benefits.
But the only reason that companies like Starbucks are able to employ a workforce with such scroogery at all, is due to state support, in the form of working tax credits and housing benefit (benefits now also under threat, thanks to George Osborne). And we’re not just talking Starbucks: other big names recently have been Vodafone, Amazon, and the Arcadia group. And Osborne knows this. That’s why you won’t see him raising corporation tax, or closing tax loopholes, or clamping down on offshore tax-havens.
With that in mind, up to 40 activists in Bristol shut down both the Broadmead Starbucks and Park Street one, meeting overwhelming approval from passers-by. And in Bath, a collection of 20 activists held a demo outside the High Street branch, alongside the monthly Bath FreeShop, handing out free fairtrade tea and coffee.
Outside of protests, though, one way that Starbucks workers can fight such attacks is to unionise, and take action. Starbucks, a company previously infamous for its union-busting, has now seen workers out on strike in Chile and New Zealand, and also unionising under the International Workers of the World (I.W.W.) in North America. Starbucks have clearly offered concessions in the hope of staving off disruption to their business, and the potential loss of profits that this represents. It also shows the power that protest groups can wield. Making big companies pay their tax won’t stop the cuts, but a sustained wave of pickets, occupations and blockades – alongside strike action – just might.
http://www.bathanticutsalliance.blogspot.com
http://m.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/03/starbucks-slash-lunch-breaks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/interactive/2012/dec/03/starbucks-uk-employees-new-contracts
