Posts tagged Starbucks Workers United
UNION’S FIRST CONTRACTS: MORE TWISTS THAN A SEASON OF ‘STRANGER THINGS’
November 16, 2023 // Welcome to the wild world of collective bargaining, where the quest for a first-time collective bargaining agreement (CBA) often feels like an episode straight out of ‘Stranger Things’ – unpredictable, a little strange, and full of twists and turns.
Philadelphia Starbucks Workers File Petition Demanding Vote to Remove SBWU Union
November 9, 2023 // Simonelli and his colleagues join Starbucks workers and other coffee employees across the country in banding together to vote out SBWU union officials. This year, Starbucks employees in Manhattan, NY; two Buffalo, NY locations; Pittsburgh, PA; Bloomington, MN; Salt Lake City, UT; Greenville, SC; and Oklahoma City, OK, have all sought free Foundation legal aid in filing or defending decertification petitions at the NLRB. In Philadelphia, workers at Good Karma Café, an independent coffee shop in Philadelphia, successfully voted out the SBWU union in September with Foundation help. This growing wave of decertification attempts is occurring after SBWU union agents engaged in a multi-year, aggressive unionization campaign against Starbucks employees. As part of the campaign, SBWU spent over $2 million to target the coffee chain with paid union agents – including “salts” who obtained jobs at Starbucks locations with the covert mission of installing union power. After achieving this goal, many “salts” abandoned the stores. Many workers targeted by this campaign are demanding decertification votes roughly one year after an SBWU union was installed at their store, which is the earliest possible opportunity afforded by federal law to do so.
Starbucks increases US hourly wages and adds other benefits for non-union workers
November 9, 2023 // Starbucks said it is also shortening the time hourly employees must work before accruing vacation days from one year to 90 days. That benefit is also only available to workers at non-unionized stores. The company also announced a new North American barista championship open to employees in the U.S. and Canada. The company said program also won't be available to employees at unionized stores since it involves prize money and travel. Starbucks’ actions go against a September ruling by an administrative law judge for the NLRB, who ruled that the company acted illegally last fall when it raised pay only for non-union workers. Starbucks has appealed that ruling, saying NLRB’s standards don’t allow employers to make unilateral changes in the wages or benefits of unionized employees.
Starbucks, union in legal battle over pro-Palestinian social media post
October 19, 2023 // Starbucks sued Workers United in federal court in Iowa Wednesday, saying a pro-Palestinian social media post from a union account early in the Israel-Hamas war angered hundreds of customers and damaged its reputation. Starbucks is suing for trademark infringement, demanding that Workers United stop using the name "Starbucks Workers United" for the group that is organizing the coffee company's workers. Starbucks also wants the group to stop using a circular green logo that resembles Starbucks' logo. Workers United responded with its own filing, asking a federal court in Pennsylvania to rule that it can continue to use Starbucks' name and a similar logo. Workers United also said Starbucks defamed the union by implying that it supports terrorism and violence.
The small pro-labor news site that has the Biden White House’s ear
October 3, 2023 // Ahead of the announcement that Biden would join the striking workers. More Perfect Union’s executive director, Faiz Shakir, helped connect the White House and United Auto Workers leaders, smoothing the way for Biden to address a crowd of striking workers. “We had a number of conversations with the White House,” Shakir, a former campaign manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said of the planning for the Biden trip. “We’re also on the ground covering UAW and building relationships there. So that’s where we gave a little bit of help on the sidelines.” With a tone that is often serious but always conversational, More Perfect Union highlights the struggles of workers from disparate sectors; one post on social media might be about striking railway workers, while the next might be about exploitation women face in the modeling industry. It also dabbles in memes, jokes and commentary familiar to anyone who spends time online.
Starbucks Union: College Students Use Billboards, Leafleting in Solidarity Action
September 18, 2023 // Today, inspired in part by the recent developments at Cornell, 11 university campuses are unveiling solidarity billboards that criticize Starbucks’ union-busting tactics, which are so copious, the NLRB, according to the Guardian, has brought over 100 cases against the company — though it cannot hold the company accountable with fines or other punitive mechanisms. (Starbucks told Bloomberg it plans to appeal the NLRB ruling in Ithaca.) Students on those 11 campuses, including the University of Arizona, the University of Washington, and the University of Chicago, will spend today leafleting outside local Starbucks locations to support workers’ unionization efforts. “Students prefer our coffee union-brewed," reads one of the billboards. "We support Starbucks baristas & demand an end to Starbucks' union-busting.”
The Starbucks Union In Ohio Is Organizing A ‘Sip-In’ To Rally Support
September 11, 2023 // Starbucks Workers United (SWU), which posted a flyer for the event on Twitter, called it an opportunity to "show up for unionizing workers." The event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on September 10, invites customers to "occupy the cafe," but not necessarily with the picket signs and protest chants that have characterized other Starbucks union events. Instead, the store is asking customers to show their support by ordering their coffee drinks "union strong" or "union, yes," donning pro-union shirts and buttons, and talking to baristas about their union election. If SWU's recent cross-country bus tour is any indication, enlisting the help of customers is a useful tactic in bolstering union support.
Popular Union-Busting Tactic Banned in New York in ‘Major Victory’
September 7, 2023 // New York has banned captive audience meetings, a popular union-busting tactic used by companies during organizing periods to disseminate anti-union information. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill on Wednesday morning, making the state the fifth in the U.S. to make such meetings illegal. “This legislation will help to ensure that all New Yorkers receive the benefits and protections that allow them to work with dignity,” Hochul said in a statement on Wednesday. “My administration is committed to making our state the most worker-friendly state in the nation, and I thank the bill sponsors for their partnership in our mission to establish the strongest and most robust protections right here in New York.”
Dunkin’ faces first union push in 12 years
September 5, 2023 // Recently, SEIU’s Union of Southern Service Workers has begun working toward a new model of unionism that relies on a combination of organizing across industries in specific cities, shop floor actions and regulatory pressure campaigns. The USSW’s strategy resulted in a strike at a South Carolina Waffle House earlier this summer, and a march on the boss at an Atlanta Dunkin’ earlier this month. Why BCTGM, which is not affiliated with SEIU, chose to pursue a union election at a 23-person Dunkin’ Donuts in Ohio is not clear. But it could signal that the upsurge in labor activity at the margins of the restaurant industry has not yet dissipated. BCTGM members struck Kellogg’s plants in 2021, and a Hormel plant in 2022.
Workers at world’s largest Starbucks reject bid to unionize
August 28, 2023 // The vote was 90 to join the union and 119 against it, after an on-site election at the five-story roastery located on the Mag Mile, according to a corporate statement released Saturday. The Sun-Times reported that workers who didn’t want unionization said the campaign hurt the relationship between management and staff, with one barista calling it a very difficult and unfortunate time.