There are now union drives at more than 300 Starbucks cafes across the country. How did a campaign that started in Buffalo, New York, get so big, so fast?
By Saurav Sarkar, The Progressive Magazine
The recent wave of Starbucks workers seeking to join a union shares many characteristics of a mass movement.
With union drives now reaching more than 300 Starbucks stores across the country, organizers are grappling with questions of national structure and tactics. But the organizing push wasn’t always envisioned as a countrywide campaign.
“[We weren’t] initially looking at Starbucks as a national project but as a geographic upstate New York restaurant [one],” says Richard Bensinger, an organizer with Workers United and senior adviser on the Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) campaign.
To understand how the union shepherded SBWU into being, one needs to go back to Ithaca, New York, in 2017. There, Workers United—an 86,000 member affiliate of the Service Employees International Union—got its start in the coffee industry, organizing a small chain called Gimme! Coffee.
“Our union represents food service and hospitality, but we hadn’t represented baristas until Gimme! Coffee,” explains Gary Bonadonna, the elected leader of Worker United’s Rochester, New York, branch.
Recent Posts
VIDEO: A Blueprint For Countering American Fascism
July 26, 2024
Take Action Now Our First Annual Henry A. Wallace Symposium offered lessons from real-life heartland organizers on how to fight for a multiracial…
Gavin Newsom Orders Removal Of Homeless Encampments
July 26, 2024
Take Action Now “The only way to end homeless encampments in California is to end the need for homeless encampments,” an expert said.…
The Crackdown On Antisemitism Doesn’t Have Much To Do With Antisemitism
July 26, 2024
Take Action Now Republican lawmakers increasingly conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism in an effort limit pro-Palestine speech and criticism of…
Netanyahu’s Unhinged And Bellicose Congressional Address Draws Scorn
July 25, 2024
Take Action Now ‘Our enemies are your enemies,’ the prime minister insisted, setting up confrontation with Iran. By Blaise Malley,…