Last month, Amazon Teamsters and Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) launched a Holidays strike and were joined by dozens of CT DSA members across the state, with thousands of workers across the country walking off their jobs ahead of the busiest season in their respective industries.
Amazon Teamsters, a project which unites the Teamsters effort to organize drivers at distribution hubs nationwide with the 2023 victory of Amazon Labor Union (now ALU-IBT Local 1), began this strike wave with a deadline for contract negotiations, which Amazon brazenly ignored, leading to their thousands of union members picketing organized workplaces.
Pickets also extended to hubs across the country – including here in Connecticut, with Teamsters flyering CT Amazon workers in solidarity with the strike. CT DSA members joined these pickets in Windsor, CT, a location that has been the site of “flying pickets” organized by California Teamsters who, like ALU, have voted in favor of unionizing and are seeking a contract with Amazon.
At BDL2 in Windsor, the picket was the first mass public action at that location. For many Amazon employees, seeing workers and comrades standing in solidarity and handing out thousands of flyers made the union real. For workers, Amazon is a real thing: a building they work in, managers they know, and a paycheck that many rely on. Before this action, the union was intangible, and by standing together at streetlights and talking through car windows the union became real for the first time.
“It was heartwarming to see the broad community support for the nation-wide Amazon strikes,” said Ruby C, CT DSA’s Labor Working Group co-chair. “We had strangers come up to us and donate donuts, coffee, hand warmers, and join us on the picket line. Through day and night, sun and snow, we stood together and supported the thousands of workers who went out on strike.”
Meanwhile, SBWU launched their own nationwide strike in the leadup to Christmas, culminating in 300 organized stores shuttering due to walkouts, including three here in Connecticut at the West Hartford, Danbury, and Woodbridge locations.
Similarly striking over unfair labor practices (ULPs), Starbucks baristas have been fighting for a first contract from their employer since a store in Buffalo, NY voted for a union in 2021, itself building on international efforts to organize the coffee multinational. Over one third of Starbucks’ nearly 7,000 employees in Chile are unionized, and have supported their American siblings in the drive to organize a majority of the company’s 9,000 US locations.
CT DSA members supported SBWU’s strikes at all three locations in the state, and spoke with workers about what the strike means to them. One barista, Magnolia G, worked for Starbucks six years before the union drive and re-applied to work at Starbucks in Woodbridge after the election victory. Asked what she thought the difference was between the two experiences, she said, “that we have a union now.”
“I think it’s beneficial for everyone, it projects and helps you as an employee.” Magnolia added that she “likes the company, but wants to see improvements.” This was a common sentiment among both workers on the picket and regular customers, who turned around at the drive-through when they saw the union on strike. Many knew the baristas by their first names, and likewise were recognized by the workers who thanked them for their solidarity (and Dunkin Donuts deliveries) with cheers.
At both Amazon Teamsters and SBWU pickets, CT DSA was joined by internet celebrity Anthony Fantano – also known as TheNeedleDrop – the most popular music critic in the world, with nearly 3 million subscribers on Youtube. Fantano filmed short videos with CT DSA explaining his support for the strikes, and interviewed West Hartford SBWU barista and CT DSA Travis G., who explained that among other issues, “people have been fired for what they’re wearing, what their hair looks like. We don’t think that’s okay.”
“The strike was a huge success! The largest in our campaign’s history with over 300 stores striking. And the largest turnout in CT we’ve ever had too! Starbucks stocks crashed hard… Between that and the media attention, we hit them where it hurts, and now Starbucks knows that if they want labor peace, they’re going to have to give us a serious economic proposal,” said Theresa B, SBWU barista, staff organizer, and CT DSA member. “CT DSA turned out for us all across CT! In Danbury, DSAers kept us fed with donuts, coffee and pizza throughout the day and were all really excited to be part of such a militant action.”
With CT DSA’s support, CT Starbucks Workers United successfully got all three shops to close early, demonstrating the might of workers’ most powerful weapon against their bosses: the strike.
CT DSA successfully manned multiple strike lines on short notice, continuing to demonstrate our commitment to labor militancy in Connecticut. Stepping into the New Year, we’re excited to advance labor work that builds on cross-sector, inter-union solidarity!