Sen. Gallego joins the fight for striking Starbucks workers

On Friday morning, Sen. Ruben Gallego joined dozens of Starbucks baristas from across the Valley outside an empty location of the coffee shop in Gilbert. The store is one of five Arizona locations that have joined a national strike as its workers’ union alleges the company has committed unfair labor practices.

“Prices are going through the roof. Corporate profits are going through the roof. CEO pay is going through the roof,” Gallego told picketers through a megaphone. “The one thing that is not keeping up is the pay and benefits of workers that are making this happen every day.”

Gallego also handed out burritos from Que Suave Taco Shop in South Phoenix to picketing workers. The group was joined by AFL-CIO organizers, members of Phoenix’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and congressional candidate Elizabeth Lee. 

Starbucks Workers United is asking for higher take-home pay, more hours for baristas and resolutions for the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges it has levied against the company for union busting.

The union claims that agreeing to a fair contract would cost Starbucks less than one average day of sales and less than Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol’s recent $96 million bonus, which he received after being on the job for only four months. 

That package made the Starbucks pay gap between CEO and worker the highest in the country, with Niccol earning a spooky 6,666 times more than the average barista.

“Instead of trying to negotiate in good faith, they just engage in unfair labor practices over and over and over again,” Gallego said. “This is the stuff that happens when corporate power does not want to give way to worker power.”

Jaci Anderson, a spokesperson for Starbucks, told Phoenix New Times that the corporation doesn’t “anticipate any meaningful disruption” from the strikes, as 99% of Starbucks stores in the U.S. remain open.

“The facts are clear, Starbucks offers the best job in retail, with pay and benefits averaging $30 per hour for hourly partners,” Anderson said. “People choose to work here and stay here — our turnover is less than half the industry average, and we receive more than a million job applications every year.”

But Lucien Faul, a worker at the Gilbert store, told New Times those facts are not so clear.

“They’re boasting about the average barista take-home pay being $30 per hour with benefits, but it’s the partners that are lucky enough to be scheduled enough hours,” Faul said.

To get benefits like health care and college tuition assistance, which factor into the $30 figure, baristas need to work 20 hours a week. But Faul said many of the store’s workers have been scheduled to work 19 hours per week.

She added that without benefits, the average take-home pay is much lower, with starting wages at $15.20 in Arizona, just above minimum wage. 

The strike, dubbed the “Red Cup Rebellion,” started on Nov. 13 and now includes 3,800 baristas in more than 180 stores across the country, making it the longest unfair labor practice strike in the company’s 54-year history.

‘Shut it down’

As cars passed by on McQueen Road, picketers shouted classic union chants, “If we don’t get it, shut it down,” and “when we fight, we win!”

Gallego told New Times that supporting unions is critical for ensuring working people can make it in today’s economy.

“What you’re seeing is the middle class being deteriorated. I think the standard of living just keeps deteriorating in this country where people that are working are barely scraping by,” Gallego said. “The top can’t keep up eating up everything all the time. It’s time to share it with these workers that are actually creating profits.” 

Workers from Starbucks stores in Avondale, Mesa, Gilbert and two in Tucson are on strike.

Rose, who has worked at the Starbucks on the corner of Power Road and Baseline Road since May, told New Times that some of the problems at the store include management ignoring employees’ submitted availability when scheduling them.

As Gallego mingled with the local workers who have been striking since Nov. 20, the store behind sat empty with notices on the windows that the location was temporarily closed. Michelle Hejduk, a union organizer, said that only in Avondale have scabs been sent in to keep the store open while union workers strike. The rest remain closed.

“They’re going to probably be shut down for the remainder of the strike. Their whole store is out here,” she said of the Gilbert location. “We need the support, and we need it from every angle. To be able to have him (Gallego) out here really means a lot.”

Gallego, who has said he grew up in a family of union workers, encouraged people to join Starbucks workers by not supporting the company during the strike.

“The way to support it is to make sure that you are talking to people within the Starbucks organization. Make sure that if you’re not going to shop at Starbucks, make sure they know why,” Gallego said. “Make that message very loud and clear because hopefully that will change the direction of the corporate leadership at Starbucks.”