Column: Here's how you can support a union for Bloomington Starbucks workers
Workers at the Bloomington Starbucks store at Third Street and the Ind. 46 Bypass voted unanimously to form a union and become part of a growing movement, Starbucks Workers United.
The vote to unionize comes amid a wave of organizing at Starbucks stores around the country that has spread to over 340 stores in 41 states. It also comes at a time when strikes and other labor actions fill the national and regional news: strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, organized action at UPS and in the Big Three automakers. Unions are in the news, and public support for workers, according to national polling, is at a 50-year high.
The early August vote to unionize was a rousing local victory, and a clear statement of Bloomingtonians' desire for better working conditions. But we should not celebrate just yet, as the hard work has just begun. Unions are only effective when they can bring the employer to the negotiating table. Thus far, Starbucks Corp. has refused to enter into good faith bargaining with any of the over 340 union shops in its stores.
Our labor laws, as spelled out in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA 1935), stipulate that once a union has been authorized by workers and approved by the National Labor Relations Board, the employer must enter into good faith bargaining with the union within a specific timeframe. Unfortunately for American workers, corporations like Starbucks and Amazon use armies of lawyers specially trained in union-busting to stonewall, to close organized stores, to fire, discipline, and harass union leaders, and to engage in other unfair labor practices in all-out efforts to destroy unions.
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When they are called before the Labor Board, their lawyers fight every charge with deep coffers, and the fines they pay do not dent their profits. So the deck is stacked against these brave workers who have risked their own jobs to try to win better conditions for all.
This is nothing new. In the wake of the passage of the NLRA, companies like General Motors still refused to recognize and bargain with newly formed unions. The workers, with community support, did what they often do, and took matters into their own hands, organizing occupations and “sit-down” strikes in the auto plants, eventually forcing Ford and others to recognize their now-legal right to collective representation. Soon, the tactic, and other labor actions, spread throughout the country, leading to the great wave of union formation, and to the post-war prosperity for the working class that so many now look back to as America’s “golden age.”
In reality, there was no golden age, only workers joining together to demand their fair share. The success of those workers led to the 40-year backlash, the war on labor, that has brought us to our current impasse, with stagnant wages, gross inequality, and the lowest union rates since the 1920s.
Workers, like our local Starbucks crew, are fighting back. But they cannot win without your help. Here is what you can do: First, sign the No Contract, No Coffee pledge at this link: https://crm.broadstripes.com/ctf/SJID0H. Then check out this website, and find ways to join in the campaign to bring Starbucks to the table: https://sbworkersunited.org/customeraction And finally, contact South Central Indiana Jobs with Justice by emailing vargj892@gmail.com to find out about local actions.
Workers, when united, have power. When the local community joins in, that power can become unstoppable. Get involved, get active, take action. It’s now or never for American workers. Solidarity.
Joe Varga is an associate professor of labor studies at Indiana University.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Column: Bloomington Starbucks workers voted for a union. Now what?
