By SHERI GASSAWAY
Missouri Correspondent
St. Louis – Starbucks baristas at the South Grand location took to the streets last week as part of a national strike against the coffee giant to demand a fair contract – a contract unionized store members have been waiting on for over a year.
The action took place on Red Cup Day, which is the launch of the chain’s holiday drink menu and customers who buy a holiday drink receive a free plastic reusable holiday cup. It’s one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year – the equivalent of Black Friday for the caffeine-glomerate.
‘FAIR CONTRACT NOW’
“We are out here for one reason,” said Sam Maurer, a member of the St. Louis Starbucks Workers United organizing committee. “We want a fair contract now. We’ve been waiting for more than a year, and they are refusing to sit down and bargain.”
Maurer, a barista at the Valley Park Starbucks, said that the company has recently been implementing new raises and dress codes at non-unionized locations – actions Starbucks is denying at the unionized stores.
“We just want to be able to bargain for those things, and if we had a contract, we would be able to,” Maurer said. “Short staffing is also an issue Starbucks is failing to address and that is leading to employee turnover.”
In addition to the strike Nov. 16 at the South Grand location, baristas and other union allies, including those from Missouri Jobs with Justice, visited non-union stores in the area to leaflet and ask customers to go elsewhere for their morning cup of Joe.
ORGANIZED STORES
The Grand and Sydney Street location is one of eight unionized Starbucks locations in the St. Louis area. Other stores which have organized include those at:
- Highway 141 and Interstate 44 in Valley Park.
- Page Avenue and Ball Drive in Maryland Heights.
- Gravois Avenue and Rock Hill Road in Affton.
- Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road in Ladue.
- Hanley Road and Dale Avenue in Richmond Heights.
- Hampton and Wise avenues in St. Louis.
- Kingshighway Boulevard and Chippewa Street in St. Louis.
A NATIONWIDE MOVEMENT
The St. Louis baristas are part of a nationwide movement of over 8,000 baristas organizing for better working conditions, fair wages and consistent schedules.
Starbucks has launched a ruthless union-busting campaign that includes threatening workers’ access to benefits, firing over 230 union leaders across the country, and shuttering union stores. The NLRB has issued over 100 official complaints against the company, encompassing over 1,600 violations of federal Labor law.
Since December 2021, over 330 Starbucks stores in 38 states and the District of Columbia have successfully unionized — more than any company in the 21st century.
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