Merry Strikemas! New Orleans Starbucks workers walk off job Christmas Eve
New Orleans, LA – On Christmas Eve, Starbucks Workers United called for an escalation of their strike to include over 300 stores across the country. The strike started on December 20. It responded to Starbucks’ refusal to negotiate economic benefits in good faith and its failing to bring any offers to the table. More stores walked out over the five days leading to Christmas.
In New Orleans, the location on Jefferson highway successfully unionized in the middle of 2023 and has been waiting on the completion of the contract ever since. There was not a scab in sight for the five hours that workers picketed the store. The location was completely closed for the Christmas Eve rush.
The workers complained about their old manager and his slimy union-busting tactics. Many of the employees have worked at Starbucks for over a year, and their tight bond was what kept the union together through corporate’s anti-union campaign. The election was tight, with an eight to five vote. But since then, the union has brought a real mindset of camaraderie which has left the supermajority of the store solidly pro-union.
A leader of the union effort said that she was unsurprised corporate was unwilling to yield on the non-economic concerns during the bargaining process, stating, “The managers displayed clear favoritism when promotions were on the table. They dangled the carrot of promotion to try and keep us in line saying, ‘If you do x, y, and z you could get a promotion.’”
Partners at the store also complained about staffing issues. Another union leader, complained, “We’ve gone from being one of the low-volume stores to the second most busy store in the district, but staffing has not changed at all to reflect that.”
Fortunately, despite being in a very suburban area, many of the regular customers were very supportive of the workers on strike, with one saying, “I can’t function without my coffee in the morning, but I will never cross a picket line so home brew it is for today!” Several customers mentioned their own union ties, and rarely would a work truck or big rig roll by without honking. One customer even asked for several of the fliers to pass to their friends.
One worker commented how Starbucks corporate is probably waiting for a friendlier Trump presidency to continue negotiations on the contract. But the organized population will be there every step of the way to make sure that the workers around the country recognize an attack on one as an attack on all.
A sign from the line read, “The only thing brewing today is solidarity!”