Hundreds of Starbucks workers and supporters rallied at Cal Anderson Park on April 23, dealing yet another blow to the coffee giant's efforts to stave off a unionization drive.
On April 21, workers at Starbucks' flagship Reserve Roastery on Pike Street voted to join the Starbucks Workers United union. They are the second Starbucks location in Seattle to unionize, after the Denny and Broadway location.
At least six other Seattle Starbucks stores have active union organizing going on. Twenty-six Starbucks locations nationally have voted to join the union, and dozens of others are waiting to file for union elections.
Previous efforts to unionize Starbucks in 2008 and 2010 failed when the company was able to stall union elections by dragging out negotiations with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that supervises union elections.
Rally organizers said they hoped to build on the momentum of the new organizing drive and prevent the company from using similar tactics this time.
"The rally is really to continue to build momentum and boost morale," activist Sydney Durkin, one of the union leaders at the Starbucks Roastery, said, "[and] to increase visibility and increase pressure on Starbucks by just saying, 'Hey, we're out in the streets. We're really passionate about this, we have a lot of people behind us, we see what's going on, we're involved, and we are going to hold you accountable.'"
Meanwhile, yet another Seattle location announced its intention to unionize. On letterhead that featured union logos in rainbows and the pink and blue of the Trans community, workers at the Starbucks store at 800 Fifth Ave. informed Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz that they were forming a union.
After telling Schultz that they liked their jobs, they added that "corporate does not hear us on our calls for expanded healthcare coverage, comprehensive mental healthcare benefits, increased sick time, adequate staffing, and livable wages."
"Our attempts to speak up have been met with retaliation and hostility," they added, a universal complaint by union activists at Starbucks. "Partners [Starbucks' corporate name for its employees] are being written up and fired for false and extrapolative reasons as soon as they are part of a movement to unionize."
As if to prove the point, Starbucks has filed unfair labor practice charges against the union, alleging "a consistent pattern of disturbing behavior from some union organizers that has increased and become more aggressive since last fall."
In an April 20 letter to employees, CEO Howard Schultz said he was "heartbroken" by union tactics and had filed the charges against the union "to protect the physical safety and emotional well-being" of Starbucks workers.
He did not detail what threats to employee safety and emotional health he noticed. Union organizers have charged the company with many specific acts of retaliation against union activists, including firings and loss of hours.
In related news, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, whose district includes the two unionized Starbucks stores, announced at the April 23 rally she will donate $20,000 to Amazon workers who are also in the midst of a national unionization campaign.
Sawant only accepts a portion of her City Council salary. The rest she puts in an organizing fund to support unions and community organizations. According to her staff, she immediately flew to New York to be with Amazon workers after attending the Starbucks rally.