SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Activists protest against Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz on July 19, 2022 in New York City. In Buffalo on September 6, 2022, Starbucks workers asked community members to join them in protesting the company's union-busting practices. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Workers at 20 Starbucks locations throughout Buffalo, New York--where the push to unionize the coffee chain's U.S. stores began a year ago--appealed to their community on Tuesday as they rallied to gather support for labor organizers who have been fired by the company in recent months.
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement."
More than two dozen workers who have been active in unionization efforts have been fired since employees in Buffalo filed for a union election last year, in cities including Memphis, Tennessee; Overland, Kansas; and Buffalo.
"Starbucks has fired 10 union leaders in Buffalo alone," said an organizer on Tuesday, standing outside one of the chain's stores. "Today we're standing on our streets in front of our stores asking our city and our community to stand with us and condemn Starbucks for their disgusting union-busting behavior."
The organizer was joined by one community member holding a sign that read, "Starbucks Customer for a Starbucks Union" and several other supportive Buffalo residents. Workers planned the action for the morning rush, from 7:00 am. until noon and garnered support from Council 66, a local labor union representing 8,500 public employees, and grassroots group Our City Action Buffalo.
\u201cCouncil 66 is out at Starbucks Williamsville supporting Starbucks Workers United! Union members are doing informational leaf letting at all 21 stores around Buffalo today from 7am-12pm. Stop by & show your support! We stand in solidarity with @SBWorkersUnited\u201d— AFSCME - Council 66 (@AFSCME - Council 66) 1662471390
The city-wide "informational picket" was aimed at publicizing and protesting what organizers say has been a retaliation campaign by Starbucks and showing the company that "Buffalo is a union town and we won't accept union-busting here," according to Starbucks Workers United.
The pickets follow more than 100 "sip-ins" that organizers held at stores across the country over Labor Day weekend. Supporters of the unionization push were invited to order low-priced items and leave large tips, providing "an opportunity for baristas and their supporters to engage in conversation about labor conditions and build community," according to In These Times.
Related Content
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement," Tyler DaGuerre, a Starbucks barista in Boston, told the outlet.
In June, the National Labor Relations Board filed a petition for a federal injunction alleging that Starbucks illegally fired organizers in Buffalo in retaliation for union activity. A ruling has not yet been handed down in the case, but a federal judge in Tennessee recently ordered the company to reinstate several workers who had been fired.
"Starbucks has repeatedly denied firing the Memphis workers for their organizing activity, and this decision... set the record straight," said Starbucks Workers United following the Tennessee ruling. "We will continue holding Starbucks accountable for their vicious and unethical union-busting campaign."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Workers at 20 Starbucks locations throughout Buffalo, New York--where the push to unionize the coffee chain's U.S. stores began a year ago--appealed to their community on Tuesday as they rallied to gather support for labor organizers who have been fired by the company in recent months.
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement."
More than two dozen workers who have been active in unionization efforts have been fired since employees in Buffalo filed for a union election last year, in cities including Memphis, Tennessee; Overland, Kansas; and Buffalo.
"Starbucks has fired 10 union leaders in Buffalo alone," said an organizer on Tuesday, standing outside one of the chain's stores. "Today we're standing on our streets in front of our stores asking our city and our community to stand with us and condemn Starbucks for their disgusting union-busting behavior."
The organizer was joined by one community member holding a sign that read, "Starbucks Customer for a Starbucks Union" and several other supportive Buffalo residents. Workers planned the action for the morning rush, from 7:00 am. until noon and garnered support from Council 66, a local labor union representing 8,500 public employees, and grassroots group Our City Action Buffalo.
\u201cCouncil 66 is out at Starbucks Williamsville supporting Starbucks Workers United! Union members are doing informational leaf letting at all 21 stores around Buffalo today from 7am-12pm. Stop by & show your support! We stand in solidarity with @SBWorkersUnited\u201d— AFSCME - Council 66 (@AFSCME - Council 66) 1662471390
The city-wide "informational picket" was aimed at publicizing and protesting what organizers say has been a retaliation campaign by Starbucks and showing the company that "Buffalo is a union town and we won't accept union-busting here," according to Starbucks Workers United.
The pickets follow more than 100 "sip-ins" that organizers held at stores across the country over Labor Day weekend. Supporters of the unionization push were invited to order low-priced items and leave large tips, providing "an opportunity for baristas and their supporters to engage in conversation about labor conditions and build community," according to In These Times.
Related Content
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement," Tyler DaGuerre, a Starbucks barista in Boston, told the outlet.
In June, the National Labor Relations Board filed a petition for a federal injunction alleging that Starbucks illegally fired organizers in Buffalo in retaliation for union activity. A ruling has not yet been handed down in the case, but a federal judge in Tennessee recently ordered the company to reinstate several workers who had been fired.
"Starbucks has repeatedly denied firing the Memphis workers for their organizing activity, and this decision... set the record straight," said Starbucks Workers United following the Tennessee ruling. "We will continue holding Starbucks accountable for their vicious and unethical union-busting campaign."
Workers at 20 Starbucks locations throughout Buffalo, New York--where the push to unionize the coffee chain's U.S. stores began a year ago--appealed to their community on Tuesday as they rallied to gather support for labor organizers who have been fired by the company in recent months.
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement."
More than two dozen workers who have been active in unionization efforts have been fired since employees in Buffalo filed for a union election last year, in cities including Memphis, Tennessee; Overland, Kansas; and Buffalo.
"Starbucks has fired 10 union leaders in Buffalo alone," said an organizer on Tuesday, standing outside one of the chain's stores. "Today we're standing on our streets in front of our stores asking our city and our community to stand with us and condemn Starbucks for their disgusting union-busting behavior."
The organizer was joined by one community member holding a sign that read, "Starbucks Customer for a Starbucks Union" and several other supportive Buffalo residents. Workers planned the action for the morning rush, from 7:00 am. until noon and garnered support from Council 66, a local labor union representing 8,500 public employees, and grassroots group Our City Action Buffalo.
\u201cCouncil 66 is out at Starbucks Williamsville supporting Starbucks Workers United! Union members are doing informational leaf letting at all 21 stores around Buffalo today from 7am-12pm. Stop by & show your support! We stand in solidarity with @SBWorkersUnited\u201d— AFSCME - Council 66 (@AFSCME - Council 66) 1662471390
The city-wide "informational picket" was aimed at publicizing and protesting what organizers say has been a retaliation campaign by Starbucks and showing the company that "Buffalo is a union town and we won't accept union-busting here," according to Starbucks Workers United.
The pickets follow more than 100 "sip-ins" that organizers held at stores across the country over Labor Day weekend. Supporters of the unionization push were invited to order low-priced items and leave large tips, providing "an opportunity for baristas and their supporters to engage in conversation about labor conditions and build community," according to In These Times.
Related Content
"We're not only building a movement for Starbucks workers, we're building a cohesive labor movement," Tyler DaGuerre, a Starbucks barista in Boston, told the outlet.
In June, the National Labor Relations Board filed a petition for a federal injunction alleging that Starbucks illegally fired organizers in Buffalo in retaliation for union activity. A ruling has not yet been handed down in the case, but a federal judge in Tennessee recently ordered the company to reinstate several workers who had been fired.
"Starbucks has repeatedly denied firing the Memphis workers for their organizing activity, and this decision... set the record straight," said Starbucks Workers United following the Tennessee ruling. "We will continue holding Starbucks accountable for their vicious and unethical union-busting campaign."