Twin Cities Starbucks workers ‘Strike With Pride’
Minneapolis, MN – Starbucks workers in the Twin Cities area went on strike on Wednesday, June 28 as part of Strike With Pride, a national strike action this week by Starbucks Workers United involving over 150 stores across the country. More than 50 Starbucks workers and supporters turned out to the picket line at the store on Silver Lake Road in Saint Anthony, which borders northeast Minneapolis
“Many of the workers that I know who are most active in Starbucks organizing are younger, queer and BIPOC,” said Gracie Nira, a worker at the 300 Snelling location and organizer with Starbucks Workers United. “Many of us initially got jobs with Starbucks because they offered coverage for gender-affirming healthcare. After the unionization drive started, they got rid of that. They haven’t bargained with any store. We won our store’s union election over a year ago, and they have just continually taken away benefits without bargaining. We wanted to strike during Pride month to celebrate ourselves while also letting Starbucks know that we see what they are doing.”
Along with Starbucks workers from a number of locations from around the Twin Cities, workers from other unions and community supporters participated in the spirited picket line, including a contingent of ten teachers who were members of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE). “We think it’s very important to stand in solidarity with working people in our community, all these fights connect,” said Leah VanDassor, SPFE president, “If parents and families are struggling to make ends meet, their kids end up struggling in the classroom too.”
According to Starbucks Workers United statement on the week of strike action, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that Starbucks has committed 161 federal labor law violations, and the federal government is prosecuting the corporation for 75 complaints which encompass over 200 charges, and alleging 1300 violations, including 77 discharges – making Starbucks “one of the worst violators of labor law in modern U.S. history.”