LANCASTER, Penn.—In sub-freezing weather, Mennonites pass by in horse and buggy while a sign on the local Starbucks door reads, “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot.”
Workers stand outside the store with homemade signs and receive consistent honks of support from cars on the highway, while would-be customers see the store is closed and turn around. Some of them realize a strike is on and raise a thumbs-up before leaving.
A burly-looking man approaches them, and the picketers stand resilient, expecting a confrontation, but there is none. He’s a steel mill worker who came to stand in solidarity with them and share his stories. They were also joined by the president and ex-president respectively of the local teachers’ union, the Manheim Township Education Association.
Workers had walked out at 2 p.m. the day before. Two store managers were still inside at this time. One left by sneaking out of the back exit, and the striking workers waved to him as he drove off. No one noticed the other manager leave, and some noted that items such as syrup had been moved inside while they had been picketing.
The store unionized a year-and-a-half ago, and workers explained that at the time it was in relatively good condition, well managed, but problems festered and became worse. One senior employee who led the walkout said that the strike came about for multiple reasons.
Understaffing was a recurring issue, and the Lancaster store was frequently swamped by customers from the nearby highway and shopping complex, with the crowds made worse by the influx of last-minute Christmas shoppers. They also cited an abysmal 1.5% raise from the company. Among these workers, the average hourly wage was $15 an hour, and this was the only source of income for some of them.
Adding to the injustice was the fact that many employees had been working there for three or four years on average, with the longest tenured one having put in seven years at the store. In addition to wages, the workers felt a key issue in their struggle was the fight for healthcare benefits in general but especially to retain benefits for transgender workers who relied on surgery and HRT offered by the company.
Workers pushed back against criticism that their work was unskilled labor, citing the fact that every single worker gets training when they are brought on, the high demands of the job during rush hours, fulfilling multiple tasks at once, and the keen precision with which they learn returning customers’ tastes and make their drinks.
Ashley, who’s worked for Starbucks for two-and-a-half years said:
“Food service is a bitch! It’s a hard job. It’s not just you make food and you talk to customers, like you’re running around filling orders, you’re trying to prep stuff for the next day, you’re trying to take inventory, you gotta make sure that people are getting their breaks and they’re doing their work efficiently… and man, the drive-thru at a moment’s notice.”
Additionally, they noted that strong unions and higher wages improved the economy by giving ordinary folk more stable livelihoods and greater expendable income. They’d like to enjoy some of that economic improvement.
After several hours of standing in the chilling weather, everyone on the picket line gathered to celebrate 24 hours of the store being shut down.
It was one cold Christmas Eve that might have seemed like any other for some people, but it was a landmark for building worker power in this small town.
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