Oak Creek Starbucks Workers Unionizing
A 'complete lack of respect for us as human beings,' letter from workers to CEO charges.
Last year, workers at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York successfully organized a union. Now a Starbucks in the Milwaukee area is following suit.
Friday morning, workers at the Starbucks store at 8880 S. Howell Ave. sent a letter to CEO Kevin Johnson and local management demanding recognition of their union. The workers are organizing with Starbucks Workers United, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the union that began in Buffalo and is currently organizing shops around the country.
One of those signatories, Sydney LeBarron-Fahl, told Urban Milwaukee that the workers are organizing to build the power necessary to negotiate with the corporate behemoth that is Starbucks.
“It’s a one-way relationship right now,” she said. “They have all the power to make decisions.”
In their letter to Johnson the workers wrote: “It once again comes back to the complete lack of respect that you, Kevin, have for us as ‘partners’ and as human beings. The wealth you possess comes directly from the pockets of partners who work day in and day out enriching you under increasingly challenging conditions. It seems the lack of respect goes both ways, you can earn ours by willingly acknowledging our union, which the overwhelming majority of us are in support of.”
She’s been with the company since March, and loves her job. “Our customers are amazing,” she said. This is her first experience with a union or labor organizing, she added. “It’s honestly really, really exciting.”
Pam Fendt, president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council AFL-CIO, also released a statement with the workers, saying, “My message to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson is this: Keep your union busting and anti-worker intimidation out of Wisconsin. In our state, we have each other’s backs, we are union proud, and we are going to be fighting alongside our union siblings at Starbucks in Oak Creek until justice is won, and they have secured their first union contract.”
When the Starbucks workers in Buffalo won their union, at first, no one at the Starbucks in Oak Creek really spoke about it. LeBarron-Fahl said she and her co-workers have great relationships. Despite that, no one wanted to be the first to stick their neck out and start talking about unions. That’s all changed.
“I feel like I have a stronger bond with my co-workers,” she said.
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The sad thing about America is that both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are anti-labor union. Both of them are owned by Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, hedge fund managers, and billionaires.