No Contract, No Coffee

Salt Lake Starbucks on Strike

by Ian V

On Christmas Eve, a few dozen unionized Starbucks workers and their supporters picketed on 400 South in downtown Salt Lake City. Instead of having each striking store form its own picket line (stores range from around 12 to 22 workers), the 400 South picket served as an anchor picket, pulling in unionized Starbucks workers from across the Salt Lake metropolitan area. This was the third day of strikes nationwide, with around 8 unionized stores participating in the Salt Lake area. For Jaden, a Starbucks worker in Bountiful, this was their third strike. According to Jaden, while previous strikes sought to bring Starbucks to the table, this strike was in response to the proposed contract Starbucks put forward which included only a 1% raise for workers, the union had demanded 25%. Nate and Leila, who work at a recently unionized Starbucks in Woods Cross, spoke to some of the other ongoing grievances workers are striking against, including understaffing, scheduling, unfair labor practices, and unsafe working conditions. Unionized stores are represented in negotiations by a delegate chosen from among the workers of a specific unionized store. For the workers out on strike, this gave them trust in their delegates, since they are facing the same issues as everyone else at their stores.