Cohost Union News

Starbucks's union-busting decision to pull out of the Ithaca market has already led to widespread backlash this week, and that backlash (and the fallout from it) continues to intensify.

On Wednesday (May 10), workers from at least one of the remaining stores walked out in protest. Then, yesterday (May 11), members of the community essentially picketed one of the remaining Starbucks locations in Ithaca, and students began an occupation of Cornell's administrative offices.

The picketing followed a rally against Starbucks, and raised $700 for Starbucks Workers Union. Most of this money was raised by selling the coffee of local chain Gimme!, which is also unionized and a worker-run co-op, in front of the remaining Starbucks locations in Ithaca. Cornell reportedly called the police to halt this action, although it's unclear if the police actually did so.

While this was going on, students elsewhere on campus began an occupation of the university's administrative offices in an effort to get the campus to cut ties with Starbucks entirely. This facet of the protest gained particular steam yesterday as it was livestreamed to hundreds of people online. Its participants stated the occupation would continue "UNTIL PRESIDENT POLLACK KICKS STARBUCKS OFF CAMPUS"—and it seems at least a dozen students (and probably more) were involved. They were successful at occupying the space for over six hours and negotiating with Cornell leadership, although the binding meeting protesters asked for with President Pollack did not occur.

Cornell eventually called the cops and evicted the protest under threat of disciplinary action. Students were jovial, however, during the protest. The Cornell Sun notes the students as having "s[ung] union songs such as “Solidarity Forever” and “Which Side Are You On?” and chant[ed] slogans such as “Union strong, Starbucks out!” and “If we don’t get it, shut it down!”" When they were evicted at 8:59pm, they once again sang “Solidarity Forever” and some began camping out in front of the building with intent to continue their occupation today.

And indeed, it seems that the occupation is once again underway and has been for approximately the last five hours as of writing. Students filmed themselves filing in with signs of support for SBWU and demands to end sales of Starbucks products on Cornell this morning:

Another interesting development out of New York City this week: hundreds of workers at GrowNYC are seeking to unionize as the GrowNYC Workers Collective, affiliated with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). They're seeking voluntary recognition currently, and as of yesterday at least were in talks with GrowNYC to that end, and allegedly GrowNYC has already committed to recognizing them. They have also filed for a union election if that falls through.

GrowNYC, for the unaware, is an environmental non-profit which currently operates the Greenmarket farmers market program and which builds urban farms and community gardens in the city. They employ about 200 people in roles that vary: farmstand workers, food distribution workers, composters, and nutrition and farming education teachers (all of which would be covered by this new union). As far as I can tell they do very good work for New York City's residents, so it would be unfortunate to see them attempt to union-bust—but it would also be unsurprising, as even "progressive" organizations often have a poor track record when it comes to unions.

A union is also desperately needed, according to workers. While GrowNYC workers generally report loving their jobs, RWDSU notes a wide array of problems they encounter in their work, including "workplace harassment [and] sexual harassment, unstable scheduling practices, seasonal layoffs with no call-back structure, a lack of structure when it comes to job duties and tasks at work, and favoritism by management."

A New York Times article corroborates many of these. Says the Times: "Most of the workers at the city’s farmers’ markets are hourly employees who make between $19 and $26 an hour. Some work year-round, but many are part time or work erratic schedules. Few receive benefits or have job security." The piece further notes that workers have needed to do essential first aid at the marketplaces; and as having "market patrons or passers-by [spit] on them, [call] them racial slurs or otherwise [lash] out." Shifts can last 12 or more hours, and individual workers often become responsible for entire portions of GrowNYC operations.

Congratulations!

You can donate to UGSDW's strike fund HERE.

The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW), a wall-to-wall independent labor union at Iowa's Grinnell College, has authorized Community Advisors (CAs) to go on an indefinite strike until a fair contract is reached. After seven months of failed negotiations, CAs walked off the job yesterday and are officially on strike as of today, May 11.

According to the union, the reasons for the strike are simple:

Through [the bargaining process], we have faced stalling, the College’s refusal to allow in-person observers at bargaining, regressive changes at the bargaining table, threats, and a complete refusal to engage with even the most basic subjects of negotiation.

A big point of contention and the immediate breaking point is a $13.25 per hour base wage proposal for CAs. While this sounds reasonable on paper, it's obviously tied to working hours—and Grinnell is not guaranteeing that for CAs. Currently, they receive a housing grant irrespective of hours worked, meaning that many CAs could actually see a pay cut from the change rather than a pay increase. UGSDW further notes that "[...]the College has not included bonus/experience pay, a livable hourly wage, and a contractually enforceable non-discrimination clause in their contract proposal."

It's also worth noting, however, that beyond the immediate points of dispute there have already been labor actions between UGSDW and Grinnell before today. The $13.25/hr base wage proposal is only that way because of one, actually. Earlier this year in March, a student walkout closed the campus libraries and most of the on-campus businesses in response to the idea of an $11.50/hr base wage proposal. Another proposal by Grinnell which would have excluded some student workers from just cause protections was dropped following the walkout.

As for what the strikers are demanding here, I'll let them elaborate:

The CAs are demanding compensation of room and board with an option for a stipend of the financial equivalent and hourly pay for training. In addition to CA specific compensation, CAs are tying their strike to contract provisions that impact all student workers, demanding: A minimum campus-wide $15/hr base wage for all student workers; the ability to address discrimination and harassment through the grievance process with an independent final decision maker; and processes for calling off work/taking sick leave, health and safety/training protections.

Grinnell for its part has not responded well to the declaration of a strike. They believe the strike is unlawful and sent out an all-student email to that effect on Tuesday, May 9. They have also apparently ceased bargaining with UGSDW as of today, to which UGSDW has filed an unfair labor practice because it was willing to continue negotiations during the course of the strike.

Who has the upper hand here is hard to say as it's early days, but UGSDW certainly has weight to throw around on campus: about 800 students—or half the student body—is unionized with them. Grinnell, on the other side of things, has been viciously anti-union in the past. In 2018 it challenged the right of undergraduates to unionize at all, then hired Proskauer Rose to union-bust the original incarnation of UGSDW when that failed. Its Board of Trustees also once forced the university to cease unit-expanding negotiations with UGSDW. Hopefully, CAs can score a big win here against the university, but it'll certainly be tough going.

The REI union wave continues, as yesterday a ninth store announced its intent to unionize and filed for an election with the NLRB. The Maple Grove, Minnesota REI store says a majority of its workers have signed union cards and will support the union.

This comes as the Boston REI store is due to vote on their union next week, and as REI continues to viciously fight the unionization of the REI store in Durham, NC. Yesterday it came out that following REI Durham's 4-day strike, the company fired Steven, whose placing on administrative leave was an immediate catalyst for the strike in the first place.

REI Durham workers say they're still fighting for Steven's employment, for him to receive back pay in light of his placing on administrative leave, and for him to have the right to vote in the coming union election. We'll see how their efforts go in the days to come; however, it seems clear REI is flailing.