Almost everything you watch, hear, or read comes from the bosses, or was approved by them. Their outlook gets expressed everywhere all the time. The outlook and opinions of workers get almost no expression, but the “Workers Beat” program Saturday mornings on KNON radio in Dallas tries to be the exception.
I’ve been hosting the program since 2006, and we’ve had a lot of guests on the air over the years, but two recent ones—Jeanelle and Nyena, a couple of Starbucks workers—were a real delight. They were on the Dec. 20 episode.
Neither of them had ever talked to thousands of people live over the airwaves, but they were game to come talk to our audience, determined to let folks know all about the ongoing Starbucks strike and boycott. They shared all the information about that but also a lot more.
As of this past weekend, Jeanelle and Nyena said they were on their 38th day of strike. They would like to continue until Starbucks management comes back into negotiations and finishes the contract they started bargaining over some time ago. The two said they were “proud to live in an area with a high concentration of organized stores and young people on strike.”
Starbucks employees, they said, have often had to work more than one job. The company has been highly profitable and pays its CEO, Brian Niccol, staggering amounts of money. Jeanelle said that he is “properly ashamed of himself” and has been seen, on a video, running away from a talk with a striker!
The union strategy, like any battle plan, is not completely public. Only those who have signed up at NoContractNoCoffee.org know the times and places for every event. Activities include pickets at stores, visits to other unions and organizations, fundraising, solidarity with other unions and progressive groups, and—as of this weekend—reaching out on community radio.
The combination of strike and boycott is a sure-fire winner, and could be employed in many other organizing drives and contract negotiations.
Several callers expressed their solidarity. One of them asked how he could contribute. The strikers supplemented their strike pay with a bake sale two days earlier. My radio co-host Bonnie was one of the people who attended, and she said it “was a smash hit.”
Bonnie went on to clarify the conditions of a boycott. She said that “anybody who buys or drinks Starbucks coffee at any shop, whether there is a picket there or not, is guilty of crossing a union picket line.”
She said, “If everybody is together, that will make this struggle short and successful!”
Neither of our two strikers, Jeanelle and Nyena, had ever been on strike before this. Nor had they ever been a member of a union at their previous workplaces. “The personal effects are far-reaching,” they agreed.
“Employed workers may not realize how it feels to stand outside their own workplace and not be welcome inside,” one of them said. When standing with a picket sign in their cold fingers, they wonder what every Starbucks customer, or even people in passing cars, think of them.
“It’s a thrill when an automobile honks in support. It feels wonderful when somebody goes by with a smile and a thumbs-up. Even the unwanted one-finger salutes aren’t so bad. “At least people are noticing!”
The best feeling, the strikers said, “is when supporters show up.” The Dallas labor movement has both youth and retiree constituencies that are all-out for working class victory. The local Communist Party club is also present at almost every event.
We didn’t just talk Saturday morning on KNON radio. The strikers led Bonnie and me in beaming out loud picket line chants like “No contract, no coffee!” Pierre, the KNON program producer, even joined in.
You can hear our recorded conversation on knon.org any time from now until Jan. 3.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
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