Starbucks Workers United on strike in north Texas
Dallas, TX – On December 23, four north Texas Starbucks locations joined the national strike led by Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). The next day, December 24, ten north Texas locations were on strike.
Pickets began at each location, then converged in Denton for a march between striking locations. Starbucks management called police on strikers at the Rayzor Ranch location, but police came and went without arrests.
Chants included “No contract? No coffee!” “3, 5, 7, 9, don’t cross a picket line!”, and “H-O-T-T-O-G-O, Brian Niccols got to go!” Brian Niccols is the new CEO of Starbucks.
On December 24, despite heavy rain, workers braved the weather to picket outside a Farmers Branch location with scabbing workers inside. Picketers wore ponchos and held umbrellas as they chanted “Hail or sleet, rain or shine, don’t cross a picket line!”
Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a strike captain and a five-year Starbucks partner, stated, “Not only do we want to come back to the bargaining table and secure a not just livable, but thriveable, contract to work under, we are also demanding a resolution to all unresolved unfair labor practices.”
Bre Byrd, a rank-and-file member of SBWU, spoke to their experience as a pregnant worker, saying, “I returned to Starbucks in 2023 because I was promised family expansion benefits, really competitive pay. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. So 25% of my pay goes to health insurance right now, which is really rough, and then it still took our entire life savings and a lot of debt for one round of IVF. So this contract really means everything to me and the future of my family.”
In Arlington, Starbucks workers held a picket outside of their store. Rhea Lanawant, a union member and strike captain of the SBWU, said, “We need to consider whose wallets those billions are lining. We are being choked. We cannot pay rent while their CEO makes more than $50k an hour.”