THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2022
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Deep Cuts: protecting shark populations
Brother Matt chased off campus by protesters
VOL. 106, ISSUE 15
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Review of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
Game on! Salukis take on Tennessee State
Starbucks workers strike during Red Cup Day
Starbucks employees Celestial Facarazzo (left) and Ellen Cullen hold signs reading “All power to the workers!” and “Starbucks on strike” on the sidewalk in front of the Starbucks on Main Street in Carbondale during the strike on Nov. 17, 2022. Brandyn Wilcoxen | @BrandynWilcoxen Brandyn Wilcoxen only way that they’re going to potential customers to avoid going @BrandynWilcoxen
Three months after voting to unionize, the workers at Carbondale’s Starbucks location on Main Street joined those at more than 100 other stores across the country in a nationwide strike on Nov. 17. The strike coincided with the company’s Red Cup Day, which is said to be one of its busiest days of the year. Ellen Cullen was one of the workers who took to the sidewalk along Main Street, holding a white sign with red letters that said, “Starbucks on strike.” They said striking on such an important day for the corporation was vital in getting their message across. “That’s all we can really do right now, try to get them to hear our voices,” Cullen said. “Hopefully it makes a big enough dent in their sales, because that’s, I think, the
acknowledge us.” The strike was in response to Starbucks’s actions during contract negotiations between the company and the union, Starbucks Workers United. As described by another employee, Isaiah Shepherd, Starbucks refused to bargain with them during their scheduled meeting on Oct. 31. “Across the nation, not only us, but even with us, we’ve had personal experience where the lawyers show up for five minutes, and then go into a private meeting that lasts for hours,” Shepherd said. “The lawyers get paid thousands of dollars, but our workers sit there at the table, getting paid nothing, volunteering to go there to try to bargain.” Shepherd, along with many of his fellow co-workers, spent the day picketing near the drive-thru, urging
to Starbucks for the day in solidarity with the strike. Some had been there since around 4 a.m., and all were battling cold temperatures. They also provided their own red cups, which were similar to those that Starbucks was giving away, except it bore the logo of Starbucks Workers United. The union logo also appeared on a black beanie that several of the workers wore during the strike. “All we’re asking is a chance to bargain at this point,” Shepherd said. “A chance to talk about it.” The Nov. 17 demonstration was just one step in a long process for Starbucks workers to attain what they feel they deserve. Austin Behrens noted how common it is for movements like his store’s unionization to fall apart. “Look at all the companies that have tried to unionize and failed
over the years,” Behrens said. “This is the tactics they used. They just didn’t sit down at the table. They made it take as long as possible. They ignored their workers. And they [the workers] lost momentum.” So-called “union busting” is illegal in the United States, but that does not stop corporations like Starbucks from engaging in tactics that prevent workers from unionizing in the first place, let alone bargain for their demands. “That’s why we’re out here today, it shows that we aren’t going to lose momentum, hopefully, and we can keep this fight going strong,” Behrens said. Unions are becoming more common in the service industry, but were historically strong in blue collar jobs, especially in Southern Illinois. “If you just think about Illinois, and the way it used to be, a lot of towns developed from coal
towns,” Behrens said. “Carterville, Carbondale, Murphy[sboro], this whole area came out of coal mining, and when you think of coal miners, you think of unions.” As manufacturing jobs are shrinking and the service industry grows, those protected jobs are becoming more and more slim. Now, workers like those at the Carbondale Starbucks are trying to recapture those same rights in their own jobs. James Ward stood on the sidewalk, holding a sign that said, “Don’t scab on Starbucks workers.” Having left his overnight shift at Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) in Carbondale at 7 a.m., Ward joined the strike in solidarity. “I think it’s important to get them unionized, because manufacturing is shrinking and service industry jobs are growing, so they get stuck with a job that’s not unionized,” Ward said. Please see STARBUCKS | 2
A cutout of activist Mother Jones stands outside Starbucks in Carbondale during the workers’ strike on Nov. 17, 2022. Jones was a prominent union organizer in the early 20th century, and is a symbol of the American labor movement. Brandyn Wilcoxen | @BrandynWilcoxen
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