The Struggle in Lancaster
This past summer Lancaster County saw its first Starbucks location file for a union election. The baristas at the store, located along Lincoln Highway East near the Tanger Outlets, went public with their announcement on July 12, 2023. These local Starbucks workers joined thousands of other baristas at hundreds of stores who have filed union elections over the past three years.
On Black Friday, the Party for Socialism and Liberation members joined Starbucks workers outside of the Park City Mall location as they publicly declared that they were filing for a union election. On that day the staff were joined by people from the community for a picket outside of the store which lasted for over two hours. The presence and energy of the crowd, after about an hour and a half of rallying, caused the store manager to close the store for the day. Management was clearly embarrassed and frightened by the workers’ more than justified militancy and determination.
The Lancaster County workers at both locations have cited several reasons for their decision to unionize. Among their concerns include inadequate wages, understaffing, under-training, and inconsistent and unstable scheduling leading to the stress and anxiety of a precarious existence. What finally led the Park City Starbucks workers to their decision to unionize was the total lack of response from management when their concerns were brought up.
A former Starbucks worker at another location in Lancaster County, Jostalynn Parry, shared that,
I worked the overnight shift as my second job and often times we would struggle with understaffing and coverage during shifts changes. It was not unusual that I would walk into a complete mess behind the counter because my co-workers had been swamped by customer orders – they had no time to keep up with restocking or other shift tasks that needed to be done.
Another Starbucks worker commented,
The mobile orders and drive thru are a big convenience for the customers, but most don’t realize we are pressured by the company to prepare their food and beverage orders as fast as possible, trying to maintain an artificially decided ‘good time’. It keeps us highly stressed because they want us to have a friendly relationship with every person at the same time of preparing orders in less than 5 minutes. It’s impossible to do both, especially when there are seasonal drinks and other specials that further increase the volume of traffic.
When We Fight, We Can Win
There is encouraging news though. Recently Starbucks workers won the ability to turn off mobile ordering, which would be greatly beneficial during rushes in the store or times of understaffing [1]. And with more workers at more stores filing to unionize, the pressure on Starbucks to negotiate fair contracts is mounting.
This year Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) announced the 2023 Red Cup Rebellion, which would occur on November 16th. It is an extra busy day for Starbucks because it’s a promotional sales day known as Red Cup Day. This year SBWU baristas and shift supervisors were encouraged to walk out in solidarity with the thousands of SBWU baristas to protest the company’s unfair labor practices [2]. Customers and other allies were encouraged to participate as well. Workers at the Lincoln Highway store said that most of their staff had walked out and most of the promotional red cups were left in the store, a very unusual situation for this company.
A Growing Movement
Since the first store in Buffalo, New York unanimously won their union election in 2021, over 360 other stores have filed for unionization. This covers nearly ten thousand workers across 40 states. Additionally, since January 2022 SBWU has conducted strikes at over 190 store locations and the total number of days exceeds 450.
Union Busting
Unsurprisingly, Starbucks has reacted as corporations do when they are threatened by union activity. They have the store and regional management harass pro-union workers, writing them up for minor infractions and for infractions that previously were disregarded. Workers in Lancaster told Chester County Liberation Center volunteers that they had to sit through “captive audience” meetings that discussed the supposed harm of unions. Going on to claim that Starbucks is looking out for them and that a third party is not necessary in the workplace.
These are all common tactics and talking points of management. Most of us who have worked in similar kinds of jobs are likely to have dealt with these meetings or reading pamphlets. A worker from the Park City location had a message for all Starbucks workers: any baristas at any location should not be afraid to talk with their coworkers about their shared issues. All workers should come together to organize and demand what we need and deserve in the workplace.
Workers Win Victories and Gain Momentum
There are roughly ten Starbuck locations across Lancaster County and the same number in Chester County. Several other locations in Pennsylvania have filed and won their union elections, especially in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Looking at the progress SBWU has made and the rise of recent labor strikes in the past few years, we are optimistic that more workers across the state and beyond will be motivated by the courage and inspiration from the workers who have already begun blazing a path.
References
[1] https://retailwire.com/starbucks-makes-it-easier-for-stores-to-pause-mobile-ordering/
[2] Red Cup Rebellion 2023 — Starbucks Workers United (sbworkersunited.org)