DALLAS—On Saturday, Feb. 22, Starbucks Workers United held a “sip-in” at the Starbucks store at 7804 Forest Lane in Dallas to congratulate workers on their upcoming union election. The workers there will soon be voting on whether to have a union at their workplace, so Starbucks Workers United organized a “sip-in” to show support and solidarity.
A sip-in is where supporters show up and wear red and/or union shirts and union paraphernalia. Supporters order drinks, and they tell the cash register their name is “Union Strong” so that when the order is ready, the workers call out “Union Strong!”
Supporters enjoy their coffee, drinks, or food they order, sit in the store, and talk with each other. They also write and draw encouraging and pro-union messages on colorful note cards for the workers. A sip-in is designed to show the Starbucks workers community support and let them know that they are not alone as they fight to organize their union.
North Texas leads the state in the number of Starbucks stores that have organized. There is a good reason for it: North Texas also has the most active group of Young Active Labor Leaders (YALL). The organization was started by the Texas AFL-CIO but accepts any kind of young activist, not just union members.
Every time the Starbucks Workers United union calls for leafleting or other organizing activity, they can always count on YALL.
Starbucks workers face heavy manipulation from management and corporate leaders when they file for unions. Upper management manipulates local store managers to make them feel like they personally failed if the workers in their store organize a union.
Starbucks Workers United organizer and former Starbucks worker Mad Austin helped organize the sip-in and explained to People’s World how Starbucks’ corporate office manipulates lower-level store managers into union-busting:
“Starbucks doesn’t want workers to organize because it puts power into worker’s hands. If corporate told managers why they don’t want workers to organize, they wouldn’t union-bust. So instead, they have created a culture where managers take a lot of pride in their job and believe that they are working for a company that can do no wrong. This way when a store files for a union election, upper management can make the store managers feel like they personally have failed these workers and put the pressure on them to fix it, cornering them into participating in union-busting.
“The cult-like culture really does have managers feeling like the company is perfect and takes care of the workers really well, even when they have workers in their own store living out of their cars. So, the district managers make the store level management feel like it must be themselves that have failed these workers” (meaning workers have failed by filing for a union because according to the bosses, life at the job without a union is “so great”).
Mad also explained more about the intense top-down company culture of Starbucks management:
“When Starbucks had its last company-wide management conference I was exposed to the intense company culture that had dozens of managers going out and getting Starbucks tattoos and calling the former CEO, ‘Uncle Howie’.”
At the sip-ins, there is a lot of warmth generated when 30-40 people show up to express their solidarity. The sip-ins are also practical affairs: Attendees discuss theoretical problems and make decisions as to which of the many pop-up protests they’re going to attend in the next few days.
At the Feb. 22 sip-in, there was a lot of discussion about March 8, International Women’s Day, because it is seen as an opportunity to build some unity out of the chaos of today’s progressive movement. It looks like several of the best groups are going to co-sponsor a march in downtown Dallas that day.
The Starbucks campaign has caught the imaginations of many young people and even a few older ones. Organizers are putting together nationwide lists of people who would carry out a boycott if one were called. In these exciting times, the Starbucks organizing campaign is giving people good training and a lot of just plain fun.
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