Santa Cruz Starbucks Workers Picket at Mission Street Store as Nationwide Strike Begins
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
On November 13, Starbucks workers from multiple stores in the Santa Cruz area held a rally and picket at the Mission Street location to begin a nationwide unfair labor practice strike launched by over one thousand baristas who are union members with Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). Workers are protesting what they call Starbucks’ "historic union busting," as well as the company's failure to finalize a fair union contract. They are demanding better staffing, higher pay, and the resolution of, "hundreds of unfair labor practice charges," according to a press release issued by SBWU. There is no end-date to the strike, and union members are asking the public not to patronize any Starbucks store, or buy any Starbucks products, until they receive a fair contract.
Workers at the rally said there were service disruptions at multiple Starbucks stores in Santa Cruz County due to union members' participation in the strike.
A paper flyer taped to the front door of the Mission Street store read, "Our Store is Temporarily Closed." It informed customers that the business was, "working to re-open our store as quickly as possible."
Striking workers have stated that Starbucks management has been stonewalling them for over six months, and has not put forth any new proposals to meet the union's demands.
The spirited rally was attended by members of a variety of Santa Cruz area unions and labor organizations, in addition to community allies. Speakers included Assemblymember Gail Pellerin.
Starbucks workers and supporters held picket signs with messages such as "No Contract, No Coffee," "Don't Cross Our Picket Line," and "Red Cup Rebellion." For several years, SBWU union members have organized "Red Cup Rebellion" protests on Starbucks' annual Red Cup Day, when the company offers customers a free, reusable red cup if they purchase certain holiday drinks. This year, Red Cup Day was November 13, hence the reason for that date being the first day of the strike.
Presently, there are five unionized Starbucks stores in Santa Cruz County. In May of 2022, the Mission Street store and the Ocean Street store were the first two Starbucks locations in California to unionize. The Ocean Street store, however, was shuttered on September 27 of this year when Starbucks suddenly and unexpectedly closed approximately 1% of its stores that the company said were underperforming for various reasons.
Community members in Santa Cruz commemorated Juneteenth this year with a large march from Louden Nelson Center to Santa Cruz City Hall, where speakers were heard. Reverend Deborah L. Johnson of Inner Light Ministries started off the speeches with a history of the Juneteenth holiday. Other speakers included Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
After being stopped by officers with the Santa Cruz Police Department in Downtown Santa Cruz over the summer, photographer Craig Burton explained in a video interview that he was taking a picture of a child in public and that his subsequent detainment by the SCPD was a case of racial profiling. Burton was clear in stating that his stop by the local police was unwarranted and that they should have known that he was not a predator. Though the authorities did not apologize to him or treat him politely, he didn't blame them, they were just doing their job he said. Burton instead focused on liberals in California, in general, as the source of the problem, stating that, "people act like they are really liberal, but they are not really liberal." He later added, "As you can see, this is Santa Barbara now." When officers Winston and Warren arrived in their patrol vehicle and first caught up to him that day on Locust Street, Burton said he was told by them to sit...
The original Mission Santa Cruz adobe and the replica mission were both spray painted during a demonstration organized on June 10 in Santa Cruz in support of the abolition of police. The phrase "Fuck Your Citizenship" was painted on the Neary-Rodriguez Adobe, and the phrase "Maldita Cruz" was spray painted on two structures. The word maldita means "damned" or "cursed" in Spanish. Additionally, the word "genocide" was painted on the state park plaque, and the mission bell located in Mission Plaza Park was removed. Mission bells were installed across the state to memorialize the California missions. The bell displayed in Mission Plaza Park was donated by the Santa Cruz Woman's Club in 1998. In 2019, local indigenous leaders lead a successful campaign to remove the mission bell at UC Santa Cruz. They stated in a news release that the California mission system was a place where their ancestors were "enslaved, whipped, raped, ...
Comments