Opinion

Unions brewing at Starbucks. Is this good for America?


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If more Starbucks employees form a union at their local shop, is that good for America? You can bet your coffee money on it.

Late last year, employees at a Starbucks in Buffalo, NY, voted 19 to 8 in favor of a union. Since then, employees at other locations are trying to do the same much to the dismay of their employer who is union busting.

You can see how it’s all playing out on Twitter where pro-union workers report they are facing harassment for their actions.

“Six managers showed up in Chicago’s Logan Square location to pull partners aside for hostile anti-union meetings, where partners left feeling guilty and scared. We call on Starbucks to end their intimidation tactics and allow us to organize freely and without interference.”

“Eugene, Oregon is on: That makes 64 stores around the U.S. that have filed for union elections in 18 states.”

“This is the second time this week that Starbucks has explicitly targeted black union organizers with falsified work complaints.”

Good union wages are actually good for America. Just look at the 1950s when union membership was at its peak, the corporate tax rate at its highest, and we had a thriving middle class. Now, Americans can barely pay their bills, and the big corporations say they don’t have enough money while executives take home eye-popping salaries. In 2021, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson’s total compensation rose 39% to $20.4 million.

Anybody out there working a regular job get a 39% raise?  And especially in the middle of a pandemic? So he gets a 39% raise, but you get written up just for trying to organize a union.

You wanna keep working at Starbucks. You want Starbucks to be profitable. You just want to enjoy some of the profits. 

Support a union, support union workers, union shops, union stores. And if you don’t have a union where you work, form one. Thanks for watching. That will make America great.