From The Front Lines

 

Workers hit the bricks at Cornell University in a historic strike.

The photo is from The Cornell Daily Sun.

A crowd of Cornell workers sing and chant as they march around

the university’s campus on Friday, August 16, days before the union called

 a strike. (Photo: Aaron Fernando) See this article in The Nation.

Starbucks workers continue to organize and win.

AT&T technicians, customer service representatives, and others who

install, maintain, and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline

telecommunications network in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee

walked off the job at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, August 16, in response to

AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith.

The workers have set up a petition for supporters to sign.

Please do so at cwa.org/attse-support.

UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA PRESIDENT

ROBERTS SPEAKS AT A PRESS CONFERENCE FOR

THE PROPOSED SILICA RULE AT UMWA’S DISTRICT 2

OFFICE IN UNIONTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

Photo Credit: Department of Labor

Shawn T Moore

New Silica Rule Funding Challenged---

A DIRECT ATTACK ON THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF COAL MINERS

The U.S. House Appropriations committee voted on July 10, along party lines, to advance a bill that would defund the Department of Labor’s efforts to enforce the new silica rule. The bill, which directs funding for the DOL and MSHA, explicitly states that no money can be used to enforce the silica rule limiting allowable levels of silica dust in mines.

Republican-controlled U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2025 funding bill in a 31-25 vote, setting up a vote on the appropriations package by the full House.

“This is an insult to the coal miners who have risked their lives and their long-term health to power our factories and heat our homes,“ said Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). “I am going to make damn sure we continue this funding so that we may keep our promise to miners suffering from black lung disease.

“MSHA’s silica standard was put into place to reduce the amount of deadly silica dust in mine atmospheres, which is crucial for combating the worsening epidemic of black lung disease. It is difficult to understand how certain members of Congress could possibly be supportive of more miners dying a suffocating death as a result of being forced to breathe silica dust,” said President Roberts.

“The actions of those in Congress who support defunding for the new silica rule is a direct attack on the health and safety of coal miners,” Roberts said. “The epidemic of black lung disease is a critical issue that demands immediate action. The union urges all members of Congress to reject this dangerous provision and stand up for the health and safety of our nation’s coal miners.”

“Miners with black lung disease have been fighting for protections from deadly silica dust for decades. The union is grateful MSHA finally took action formulating the new silica standard,” said Secretary-Treasurer Sanson.

“It is disturbing, to say the least, that a handful of politicians, who are supposed to be for the people, have taken actions that are a slap in the face to every coal miner in our nation,” Sanson said. “If this policy becomes law, it will put thousands of miners at even greater risk. Congress needs to do better, and our miners deserve better.”

Text taken from the United Mine Workers of America.

Letter to Starbucks CEO from Starbucks Workers Organizing Stores (August 2024)

 

Dear Laxman Narasimhan,

We, the partners at 15 stores across the country, are joining our 10,500+ union partners at the 470+ union stores to stand up for our dignity, health, and safety as Starbucks workers. A fair contract is a necessity not just to change our company and its working conditions for the better, but also as a building block to give back to the communities in which we are built.

We are told as workers that we are essential partners in creating a welcoming and relaxing third space for our customers, while in the same breath that we have not earned the staffing we need to actually create that space. Our customers’ wait times have exploded while our staffing has shrunk; our income has diminished as our hours have been cut; and our health has declined as our workload has increased. We are drawn in with the promise of benefits Starbucks describes as industry leading, yet struggle against the company to get the minimum hours we need to actually qualify for those benefits.

We are told that our experience as partners is valued, yet as expectations continue to grow, we are starved of the resources we need to succeed. Promo after promo, we are left struggling: struggling to connect with our customers and our fellow partners, struggling to have three people do the work of six for no additional pay, struggling to hold our stores together. Discussing these problems with store managers and district managers does nothing to bring change to our stores, so we have decided to take matters into our own hands and join together in the union. Across the country, these experiences unite our stores, and together we are unionizing to demand better staffing, guaranteed hours, and proper compensation for the work we are doing.

We refuse to be pawns in a zero-sum game. If we are truly partners, we demand to join you at the bargaining table so that we, too, can have a say in the future of the company that could not run without our labor.

In solidarity,

The partners atUSC Village – Los Angeles, CA
Collins & Lamar – Arlington, TX
Hamden (2100 Dixwell Avenue) – Hamden, CT
Litchfield Turnpike – Woodbridge, CT
One Liberty Plaza – Manhattan, NYC
Hwy 70 & Hwy 20 – Marysville, CA
Shoppes at Belmont – Lancaster, PA
82nd & King – Portland, OR
Central & 53rd – Fridley, MN
30th & Arapahoe – Boulder, CO
St John-US 41 & 101st Ave – St John, IN
Summit & Main – Crown Point, IN
Murray Ave – Pittsburgh, PA
433 Cleveland – Clearwater, FL
300 E. Lincoln Hwy, Exton – Exton, PA

Starbucks Workers United Members Remind Us Of An Important Fact Of Life

A message from Starbucks Workers United members in Texas reeminds us that "Labor rights ARE queer rights; a strong union builds a security net for our queer and trans partners. “No pride for some of us, without liberation for all of us” - Marsha P. Johnson

Some New Faces In Oregon's Labor Movement!

Partners at the 28th and Burnside Starbucks location in Portland voted

for their union this week and won big!

Progress for Starbucks workers!

 

Starbucks Workers United is making history today!

Starbucks Workers United is announcing their biggest filing day for union elections in Starbucks Workers United history - workers atTWENTY-ONE new stores are announcing their organizing efforts together today!

Congratulations to Wells-Fargo workers in Daytona Beach who just went union! What about Salem-Keizer?

REI workers are organizing for union representation nationally. We have REI.

Starbucks workers are organizing nationally. We have lots of Starbucks stores.

Healthcare professionals are organizing across Oregon. Salem Hospital is non-union.

Wells Fargo workers are organizing around the United States. We have Wels Fargo banks and a large Wells Fargo center.

Amazon workers are organizing nationally. We have an Amazon facility.

There are plenty of union organizing opportunities in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. If you are interested in forming a union, contact the Oregon AFL-CIO. If you work for one of the employers mentioned above, hit the link to connect with the union that is active in your sector. 

Top Cut:
Bankers and tellers at a Wells Fargo branch in Daytona Beach, Florida, voted last week to join the Communications Workers of America’s (CWA’s) Wells Fargo Workers United. This is the second-ever successful election at the megabank.

Why It Matters:
Momentum around organizing Wells Fargo branches is building quickly across the country. Just weeks ago staff at a branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, became the first to win a union election, and workers in Wilmington, Delaware, filed for a union election soon after. Despite Wells Fargo’s anti-union attacks, these workers are fighting to secure a meaningful voice on the job to improve conditions for themselves and their customers.

Note: the reference to The Onion in the graphic above refers to on-going union activism at The Onion, a satirical and often hilarious on-line publication. This is almost new territory for union organizing. And despite what looks like glum numbers above, note that worker activism at Wells Fargo has won over $205 million for workers in just a short period. If you set out to organize a union in Marion, Polk or Yamhill counties you will have support.

The graphic, photo and news story come from the AFL-CIO Daily Brief.

A Starbucks in Medford, Oregon is on the way to union representation!

The Starbucks stores recently going union include the West Main one in Medford, Oregon and one in Los Angeles and two in Plainfield, Indiana.

If you are a Starbucks partner, please go here to start getting a union in where you work.

If you are supporting Starbucks partners as they organize, please go here to help out.

Great News From Starbucks Workers United

GREAT news: A federal administrative law judge in Colorado has ruled that Starbucks worker and Starbucks Workers United organizer Len Harris was illegally fired for organizing a union. The judge has ordered Starbucks to not only rehire her, but issue back pay and apologize.

"I'm incredibly validated," said Len. Hear the Colorado Public Radio report here.

Starbucks Workers United Calls Out The Human Rights Campaign, Questions Raised About Labor & Liberal Non-Profits

I won't pretend to understand all of the issues involved here, and I won't pretend to be a perfect empath, but at first read it seems that the relatively progressive and pro-LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has gotten cozy with Starbucks even as a national union campaign calls on the company to negotiate with the workers where union elections have been held and the union has won and to follow the laws and generally do the right thing where the workers are concerned.

It may help readers to go here, here, here, and here for some context. The impression that I get from reading these sources is that Starbucks is feeling the squeeze from the union and its supporters during the holiday season and needs some goodwill and love from a liberal non-profit to boost flagging sales.

The HRC can't say that they have not heard of the union campaign because it is has been in the news for years now and because non-profits should be investigating who they're supporting before they start handing out commendations. It matters here that some of the most visible leaders of the union effort are LGBTQIA+ and that many workers supporting the effort support a ceasefire in Palestine/ Israel and other social justice and solidarity issues. Why does it matter? Because the HRC and most of its supporters also identify with movements for social justice. 

The union's criticism of HRC can be read as a challenge to the HRC and its supporters: Which side are you on? It seems that the HRC has taken a relatively progressive stand on events in Palestine/Israel, is close to the Biden administration despite pressure from activists, and has ties to other liberal non-profits and political groups. The HRC has won support from some in the labor movement, although I cannot find anything that tells me if HRC workers are represented by a union or not. We frequently hit a wall with liberal organizations that are right on many issues but will not deal with matters of class or encourage their workers to join a union or negotiate in good faith with a union that represents their workers.  

We in the labor movement do not have a perfect record here, but we have some leadership who understand the struggles for LGBTQIA+ liberation from their owned lived experience and we have a base and an ability to do more and better and we have Pride At Work and similar organizations in particular unions (see for instance SEIU Local 503's caucus, CWA-AFA, IBT LGBTQ Caucus) to lead us. 

In any case, Starbucks Workers United wants you to know about "what actual trans and queer workers have to say about their experience working at Starbucks."

The union press release mentioned above reads as follows:

 
We’re disappointed to see that the Humans Rights Campaign gave Starbucks a perfect score on their “Corporate Equality Index” again this year.

HRC seemingly ignored what actual queer and trans workers are saying about their experiences working for Starbucks. Members of our union’s Trans Rights Action Committee shared some of their stories on social media, and give an insight into the many systemic problems Starbucks has with their treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers - especially those who choose to exercise their legal right to organize.



Check out what queer and trans workers at Starbucks had to say, and help us call on the Human Rights Campaign to stand alongside organizing workers, many of which are members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

(Clicking on this graphic takes you to a union Instagram account in the

 original press release.)

Starbucks has repeatedly violated labor law hundreds of times according to the National Labor Relations Board. Companies that do wrong by their workers AND the law should NOT be celebrated as a fair employer.

Amplify the message to demand Starbucks to come to the bargaining table in good faith! As history has shown, labor rights are LGBTQIA+ rights - and you can stand up for your rights if you’re a Starbucks Partner or ally. Get in touch with our union to learn how and start organizing.

See you online,

Josie Serrano
Starbucks Workers United

Note: All graphics and the press release text used here comes from Starbucks Workers United. The opinions expressed here are not those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Support Starbucks Workers United over the holidays

 An email from Starbucks Workers United reminds us of the following facts:

Since we won our first union just two years ago -

* We won ~380 union elections
* We’ve gone on nationwide strikes with thousands of our coworkers

* Our movement continues to grow + win improvements at Starbucks

We’re really proud of the work we’ve done and will continue to do.

Over the last two years, on top of continued union-busting in stores, Starbucks has repeatedly and illegally failed to bargain in good faith with the Union. We need them to actually come to the table in good faith with workers in 2024 - we’ve been ready and waiting for a very long time. It is way past time that Starbucks sit down and bargain with us meaningfully.

The company has not substantively responded to a single union contract proposal in over 17 months. Actions speak louder than words. It’s time to bargain in good-faith.

The union is asking for our help. You can help by sharing their story on social media, forwarding this email to a friend, and telling everyone to sign the No Contract, No Coffee pledge on our website.