Workers Say They’ll Be There 24/7 Until Starbucks Bargains Fairly by Micah Yip It looked like a weekend campout: tents pitched in clusters, sodas and snacks scattered across picnic tables, upbeat music blasting through the speaker s, and groups of young people milling about, laughing and talking. But it wasn’t. It was day 36 of the Starbucks Workers Union’s (SBWU) strike, and scores of union workers and supporters were setting up “Camp Contract” in front of Starbucks headquarters in SoDo. And they’ll stay there 24/7 until Starbucks comes to the bargaining table with a fair contract—however long that takes. “We’ve been out here showing Starbucks that we’re not here to play,” says Leo Romans, a strike captain and barista from the Lower Queen Anne drive thru store. “We’re gonna be here around the clock picketing until they're ready to meet with us.” Unionized stores launched a nationwide walkout on November 13—the company’s major promotional Red Cup Day—due to years of stalled contract talks, historic union busting, and 700 unresolved unfair labor practices (ULPs) filed with the National Labor Relations Board. The strike includes about 3,800 union baristas across more than 180 of their 18,000 stores. Hundreds of workers and supporters began the rally at 11:30 a.m. Thursday outside the corporate building entrance. They rallied with picket signs, chanting, “What’s disgusting? Union busting! What’s outrageous? Starbucks wages!” A 10-foot-tall “Big Bucks Coffee” cup with CEO Brian Niccol’s devil-horned head popping out the top was propped up on stage, where local officials, representatives from other local unions, and SBWU baristas spoke to the crowd. City Councilmember-elect Dionne Foster, King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, and Washington state Democratic party chair Shasti Conrad were among them. “I believe that when workers come to the table and demand fair negotiation, they deserve it,” Councilmember-elect Dionne Foster said to the crowd. “I’m here because I think a living wage isn’t an option, and I’m here because I used to be a barista and I know you all work damn hard to do what you do.” As strikers set up camp and waved teasingly to corporate workers inside headquarters, Maggie Bolden, barista, strike captain, and bargaining delegate from a Portland store, told The Stranger the company still hasn’t returned to the bargaining table with new proposals, even though stores across the country have been shut down for a month. Strikers setting up tents outside of Starbucks HQ. MICAH YIP “I think their offer of one percent wage increase is ridiculous when the people in this building are making hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, and most people in my store need second jobs,” Bolden says. SBWU’s core demands include better hours to improve the “rampant” understaffing in stores, higher take-home pay, and the resolution of the 700 ULPs. SBWU says Starbucks has committed more labor law violations than any employer in modern history. “It would cost Starbucks one day’s profit to settle our contract, and instead, we’ve been on strike for 36 days. They could’ve settled our contract 36 times over to prevent workers being without pay, stores being closed down,” Bolden says. “The company is losing themselves money by not bargaining with us and by not specifically resolving the unfair labor practices.” In a statement emailed to The Stranger, Starbucks’ global communications director Jaci Anderson said: “We’re ready to bargain whenever the union is ready. In the meantime, the facts speak for themselves: Starbucks offers one of the best jobs in retail—pay and benefits average $30 an hour, turnover is far below the industry average, and more than a million people apply to work here every year.” SBWU says otherwise. A Philadelphia SBWU bargaining delegate wrote that according to union data, the average barista gets just 19 hours of work per week—one hour short of qualifying for benefits. In 33 out of 50 states, a barista’s starting pay is $15.25. Seattle baristas start at $21.40, according to Starbucks Careers. Andrew Uddin, barista and strike captain from the Lower Queen Anne store, says that while they’re lucky to have a strike fund, he and his coworkers have been struggling to pay bills since the strike began. But until Starbucks bargains fairly, SBWU will remain on the picket line. “We’ve been really lenient and we’ve been patient,” Uddin says. “Now, we’re fed up, and we’re taking action.” ...read more read less