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The Labor Movement Today: Building Power Across All Our Issues

September 1, 2025 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , , ,
For Labor Day, Clearing the FOG speaks with labor organizer Jaz Brisack. Jaz was on the frontlines of organizing the first labor union in a Starbuck's shop and creating the Inside Organizer School in 2018. They are the author of Get on the Job and Organize published by Atria/One Signal Publishers in April of this year. Jaz speaks about their experiences growing up in the South, discovering the history of the labor movement in the United States and getting involved in labor campaigns during college. They also speak about the tactics used and challenges overcome in building Starbucks Workers United, as well as the youth contingent of the labor movement today and the importance of unifying the labor movement across types of work and around broader social demands.

Salts And Peppers Build A Union At Starbucks

August 14, 2025 Jenny Brown, Labor Notes. , , ,
Starbucks Workers United recently celebrated the unionization of their 600th store, disproving reams of conventional wisdom: you can’t organize small shops… you can’t organize high-turnover workplaces… you can’t organize young people. For a gripping first-person account of how it happened, read Jaz Brisack’s new book Get on the Job and Organize. Brisack, who uses they/them pronouns, salted at the first Starbucks store to unionize, in Buffalo, New York, but the book starts with their roots in the South and the attempt by the Auto Workers to unionize a big Nissan assembly plant in Canton, Mississippi in 2017.

Chilean Starbucks Workers Gain Second Contract After Strike

June 19, 2025 Vanessa Alvarez, Labor Notes. , , , ,
We started the union because of worries workers had, especially because of the economic crisis in the United States. We noticed that stores were closing [in the U.S] and we didn’t know what could happen here. Those concerns pushed the initial group [in Santiago] to form the union, and in 2010 the first negotiation took place. When we started negotiating, we could immediately see that they were a very anti-union company. Starbucks at that time was controlled by the corporation in the United States. They stated directly that they were not going to negotiate with unions, that they did not negotiate with unions and that, therefore, no matter how much we asked, how many we were, they did not care at all, they were not going to give in.

Court Rejects Starbucks’ Challenge To US Labor Board

December 30, 2024 Reuters, Portside. , , , , ,
A federal appeals court has largely rejected Starbucks’ appeal of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that the coffee chain illegally fired two Philadelphia baristas because they wanted to organize a union. The third US circuit court of appeals said the coffee shop giant lacked standing to challenge the constitutionality of administrative law judges of the NLRB, the government agency that is set up to enforce labor laws in the US concerning labor practices and collective bargaining. The judgment represents a possible setback for companies such as Amazon, the Trader Joe’s grocery chain and SpaceX that have sought to limit the agency’s enforcement powers.

Starbucks Workers Begin Five Day Strike In Seattle

December 25, 2024 Mathieu Chabaud and Clio Jensen, Fight Back! News. , , , , ,
Seattle, Washington – On Friday, December 20, Starbucks workers at five stores in Seattle went on strike. Anchored by the 24 hour picket line at the Reserve Roastery, one of Starbucks’ premiere stores, workers on these picket lines are planning to strike through December 24. Baristas are on an unfair labor practice strike after the company has continually stalled negotiations and engaged in bad faith bargaining. Starbucks workers say the company has not been willing to agree to pay that meets workers’ needs. “We make our store so much money, we make Starbucks so much money,” said Bruce Halstead, a striking worker at the Reserve Roastery.

Starbucks Barista Strike Spreads To 300 Stores Across United States

December 24, 2024 John Zangas, DC Media Group. , , ,
Washington DC—Over 5000 baristas walked off their jobs on Christmas eve in the largest action ever taken against Starbucks corporation. It was the fifth day of an escalating strike stretching from coast to coast across the country. The action involved over 300 stores that had previously voted to join Starbucks Workers United Union (SBWU) according to a press release from the union. The strike comes amidst growing tensions between SBWU Union representatives and Starbucks corporate lawyers after 98% of union members voted to reject a wage increase of less than 2%.

Generation U Raises Its Head With A Roar

December 21, 2024 Madeleine Freeman, Left Voice. , , , ,
In the middle of the holiday rush and massive profits for big business, Starbucks workers have just joined Amazon workers and gone on strike against one of the largest corporations in the country. Hundreds of workers are rising up against these union-busting companies who refuse to negotiate contracts that would guarantee real wage increases, job protections, and other much-need improvements to working conditions. Amazon and Starbucks workers, who have been at the forefront of a new wave of labor organizing amongst precarious sectors of workers in recent years, have had enough.

Baristas Vote To Serve Starbucks CEO A Hot Strike

December 20, 2024 John Zangas, DC Media Group. , , ,
Washington DC—Just in time for the holidays, over 10,000 Starbucks Baristas voted to strike at up to 537 stores across the country. The vote comes after top management made a final offer of a paltry 2% raise on a contract negotiated over the last 8 months. Baristas in three States will stop brewing lattes and blending frappuccinos starting Friday morning at the start of the busiest shopping weekend before Christmas. The escalating strike will begin in Seattle, LA, and Chicago, and will spread to other locations across the country.

‘Red For Bread’: Starbucks Workers United Demands A First Contract

August 29, 2024 Martha Grevatt, Workers' World. , , ,
Cleveland, Ohio - Workers at hundreds of unionized Starbucks stores took part in the “Red for Bread” campaign from Aug. 23-26. Members of Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) wore red to send a message to the company that they want their first contract — one that includes worker rights, safe working conditions, a $20-an-hour minimum wage, quality health benefits and much more. Numerous solidarity actions took place outside Starbucks stores across the U.S. Since the unionization campaign began in Buffalo, New York, in August 2021, the number of union stores has grown from zero to nearly 500.

Supreme Court Decision In Starbucks Case Will Impact Labor Movement

June 21, 2024 Alexandra Martinez, Scheer Post. , , , ,
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 13 in favor of the Starbucks Corporation in the landmark case Starbucks v. McKinney, a devastating blow to union organizers that narrows the authority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to seek remedies for terminated union activists.  The case, which marked a significant victory for Starbucks and could hinder future labor organizing, centered on whether the NLRB should have the authority to swiftly issue injunctions under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act aimed at halting employers’ alleged unfair labor practices. “The main reason we submitted the brief was so that the Supreme Court could hear directly from the Starbucks workers who are affected by issues that the court was considering,” said Daniel Rosenthal.

One In Three People Are Boycotting Brands Over Israel’s War On Gaza

June 16, 2024 Staff, Middle East Eye. , , , , ,
More than one in three people say they are boycotting a brand viewed as supporting a side in Israel's war on Gaza, with oil-rich Gulf states and large Muslim-majority countries leading the way. The latest edition of an annual Trust Barometer report from public relations firm Edelman underscored how sharp divides over the war are causing consumers across the globe to take a stance with their wallets. The survey polled 15,000 consumers across 15 countries, including France, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US. The poll didn't say who respondents sided with in the war, but out of the top five countries listed as engaged on boycotting brands over Gaza, three are Muslim-majority nations: Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Indonesia.

Starbucks Resumes Bargaining Amid Fresh Wave Of Unionized Stores

June 3, 2024 Michael Sainato, The Guardian. , , , ,
Starbucks has resumed bargaining with union leaders amid a fresh wave of organized stores after the world’s largest coffee chain agreed to open talks over labor agreements. After a long, embittered campaign, the Seattle-based coffee giant jointly announced a new framework with Workers United in February to reach contracts with unionized stores. Bargaining got under way on Wednesday, and is due to continue on Thursday. Since baristas in Buffalo successfully formed the first unionized US Starbucks store in December 2021, an organizing drive by Starbucks Workers United has spread nationwide, to more than 425 Starbucks stores in 43 states, representing over 10,500 workers.

Lessons From Starbucks Workers United And The Fight For $15

May 1, 2024 Brian Callaci, Dissent Magazine. , , ,
On February 27, after over two years of gutsy and strategic organizing, Starbucks Workers United forced Starbucks to surrender to its workers’ wishes and recognize their legal right to a union under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The baristas’ union and the company have agreed to a national framework for contract bargaining and for recognizing the wishes of workers at non-union stores to join the union. Earlier that month, after twelve years of similarly courageous fighting, workers in another union campaign against chain restaurants, Fight for $15, celebrated a different kind of victory.

How Workers Brought Starbucks To The Bargaining Table

March 1, 2024 Natascha Elena Uhlmann, In These Times. , , ,
After a grueling and innovative organizing campaign characterized by stonewalling, fear mongering and retaliation, Starbucks workers are closer than ever to a first contract. Days after Starbucks Workers United announced the largest single-day union drive in the company’s history, the union declared it had reached ​“a constructive path forward … on the future of organizing and collective bargaining at Starbucks.” According to the statement, Starbucks will no longer deny benefits and credit card tipping to union members, and will work towards a ​“foundational framework” for collective bargaining agreements.

Twenty-Five US Universities Face Calls To Cancel Starbucks Contracts

February 22, 2024 Michael Sainato, Portside. , , , ,
Student organizers, faculty and workers at 25 university campuses across the US are calling for their institutions to cancel their contracts with Starbucks in protest against the company’s response to union organizing efforts. The “Starbucks gets an F” actions will take place on Thursday at campuses including the University of Chicago, the University of South Florida, UW-Madison, New York University, Georgetown and Rutgers. Hundreds of college campuses have Starbucks locations on them, either through licensing agreements or through contracts with third-party vendors. Student organizers are circulating petitions pushing their universities to cut contracts with Starbucks on their campuses and raise public awareness about their efforts to hold the company accountable and support workers’ unionizing efforts at Starbucks.
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