By James Thompson
HOUSTON – About 250 workers at Maximus Coffee Group in Houston have been on strike since October 10. 90% of the workers voted to strike because of the unreasonable demands of Maximus management headed by the owner, Carlos de Aldecoa. Aldecoa is demanding that some workers wages be cut by 50% and healthcare and retirement benefits drastically reduced.
Striking workers are on the line outside the plant 24/7 in fair weather and foul. They indicated they are very pleased by the solidarity shown by the community. They said lots of students from the University of Houston as well as various working people have stopped by to show their support and walk the picket line with them.
Although the vast majority of workers have stood together to support the strike, there are a few scabs which have crossed the picket line. One definition of a scab from the internet is “a strikebreaker. The crew they bring in when the original workers go on strike.†These pathetic individuals are also called “blackleg†when they replace a worker who is on strike. The term “scab†has been in use since at least 1590. They are viewed as despicable because they weaken the effectiveness of a strike.
In the case of Maximus Coffee Group, management is using a small group of scabs to keep the gigantic coffee plant running. Scabs park in remote lots and scurry like cockroaches into buses provided by management which then drive them to the plant accompanied by a van of company guards. They are then sneaked into the plant to do their dirty work.
Of course, the plant is understaffed during the strike and most of the scabs are not trained and experienced in producing coffee. It is easy to surmise that the coffee produced by these scabs is very inferior to that produced by the experienced, trained union members.
Maximus Coffee Group has contracts with a number of distributing companies. It is important for the public to be aware that the following products are processed by the Maximus Coffee Group. In order to support the workers, people of conscience should boycott the following products: Beaumont Coffee, Boston Best Products, Café D’Liro Coffee, Cloverleaf Coffee, Folgers Coffee Products, Maxwell House Coffee Collections, Maxwell House Coffee Singles, Maxwell House De-Caf Coffee, Maxwell House Filter Packs, Maxwell House Instant Coffee, Maxwell House International Café, Nestle Coffee Products, Sanka Instant Coffee. If you consume these products routinely, please stop to think about the fact that they are being produced by scab labor.
Now for the Hall of Shame. Following is a list of some of the workers who have made the choice to be scabs. They have made a bargain with the negative forces that run Maximus Coffee Group and will have to live with their choice for the rest of their lives. When the strike is ove
r and the workers go back to work, the scabs will prosper equally with the striking workers without having contributed anything to the effort. Strikes and other labor actions are most effective when there is unity among the workers. Scabs only contribute to disunity. Here are the shameful scabs: CURTIS PHILLIPS, DAVID STEVENS, ALBERT WYATT, VICTORIO CARPIO, SANDRA GROVE, CEDRIC BAKER, MIKE LEMON, PAT MOBLEY, QUAN NGUYEN, GREG BONNEAU, GENEVA RODRIGUEZ, JAIME BROWN, DEAN BURKE, WILLIE PALACIOS, FERNIE SALINAS, MIKE LEWIS, LASHONDA LEONARD, JULIUS JONES, ARTHUR MURPHY, DAVID RODRIGUEZ, JAVIER MOTO, ALVIN HALL, EDGAR HALL, RICK ODUM. If you know these scabs, don’t be shy about telling them you think their behavior is despicable and they should not be crossing the picket line during any strike unless they want to work for nothing and want everyone else to work for nothing. If Maximus is successful with their anti-worker tactics, other wealthy corporations will surely pull a copycat. There are rumors on the street already that a local beer distributor is trying to do the same thing to their workers and the workers are considering a strike as well.
Another thing that people can do to support the workers is call Mr. Carlos de Aldecoa (or his agents) at (713)545-5420 or (832)589-2158 or (713)221-9382 and tell him to bargain fairly with the UFCW so that the workers can return to work as quickly as possible. Families and communities suffer when workers are on strike. When a strike is prolonged by unreasonable management, we all suffer including coffeedrinkers. Resolving the strike quickly is in everyone’s best interest. Working people can also sign the petition to boycott Maximus coffee products at http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/boycott-maximus-coffee-1?source=c.url&r_by=8638452 .
