The #restaurant #industry has long coordinated efforts to suppress labor costs through the #NRA, a multimillion-dollar #lobbying machine funded both by its restaurant members and by the fees #workers pay for required food-safety classes, according to a recent New York Times report.

The group has spent its #war chest on lobbying campaigns to preserve a subminimum #wage for tipped workers — who are disproportionately young, women, and people of color, and far more likely to live in #poverty than regular minimum wage workers — and to help block state and federal sick leave proposals and minimum wage increases.

But now, restaurant executives are on edge. #Union campaigns are suddenly penetrating their industry, which employs about 10 percent of the American #workforce and has one of the lowest #unionization rates of any sector. Over the past few years, baristas have #unionized nearly 280 Starbucks stores in the face of enormous odds, and dozens of other coffee #shops and restaurants have followed suit.

“The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, every newspaper reports on every union win… when an unfair labor practice charge is filed, when there are challenges to elections,” said Felice Ekelman, a principal at Jackson Lewis, one of the oldest and most infamous union avoidance law firms in the country. “When did this become first page #news?”

“And guess who’s reading it?” replied Laura Pierson-Scheinberg, one of Ekelman’s Jackson Lewis colleagues, as the two sat across from each other on the main stage of the summit. “My kids. Literally. I have an 18-year-old, my kids are into it.”

The two lawyers were discussing a new threat for the restaurant industry: the unexpected rise of union campaigns in workplaces that, for decades, have largely been immune from such organizing efforts.

“Before, I used to say… ‘[Unionization] isn’t a problem for you in the restaurant industry,’” said Pierson-Scheinberg. But now, she warned, “Kids do not care about paying union dues. Two percent of pay, are you kidding me? Their Netflix costs more. They think it’s a hell of a deal.”

The “kids,” she added, are #organizing #workplaces which would have previously seemed unreachable.

https://www.levernews.com/fear-and-loathing-among-the-union-busters/

@tmorello Plays Opening Of America’s Only #Unionized #StripClub
https://www.stereogum.com/2234375/tom-morello-plays-opening-of-americas-only-unionized-strip-club/news/
https://abc7.com/north-hollywood-strippers-union-los-angeles/13697889/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/business/strippers-union-labor.html
https://youtu.be/EfsYcf5YFhY

#Cornell does not renew #Starbucks contract after chain closes #unionized stores in #Ithaca
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/cornell-to-stop-serving-starbucks-coffee-after-company-shut-down-unionized-cafes/ar-AA1fn0kx

@sarangshah

“A lot of plants have gone to the south, to #nonunion states where very few workers are organized — and #biden is trying to do what he can to make sure as many jobs as possible are #unionized ” said Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic & Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank.

“Biden is trying to do everything within his executive power to make sure the jobs created by these bills are good-paying jobs.”

Bravo♥️
#union

I'm just sitting here and the entire title of my job just changed. I'm no longer THAT but now THIS. The pay changed too. All good things.
#union #unions #unionized #teamsters

#Unionized #UPS #workers vote to authorize a #strike in high-stakes negotiations for a new #contract
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/18/2175825/-Unionized-UPS-workers-vote-to-authorize-a-strike-in-high-stakes-negotiations-for-a-new-contract

#Amazon #DeliveryDrivers Walk Out in First-Ever Driver #Strike
The drivers #unionized with the #Teamsters in late April, and are on strike to demand that Amazon come to the bargaining table. https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3mm5x/amazon-delivery-drivers-walk-out-in-first-ever-driver-strike #union #AmazonDelivery

#Chicago: #Unionized #educators at #charters flex their muscle
https://www.fightbacknews.org/2023/4/15/chicago-unionized-educators-charters-flex-their-muscle

Our graduate students at #Syracuse #unionized successfully. Congrats to the organizers.
From what I can tell, SU administration was surprisingly non-shitty about this. Emails were matter-of-fact, there were no serious anti-union talking points, etc. Honestly kind of surprising. Is there any other private school that had grad students unionize w/o a fight?

So with Schultz out at #Starbucks I wanted to chime in: a lot of people say they don't drink at Starbucks because their coffee is crappy compared to <X preferred place no one agrees on>.

My answer to that is: ALL COFFEE IS CRAPPY. You've inured yourself to that to feed your caffeine addiction and that's fine. I drink malted battery acid (see below), I don't judge.

But buy your coffee at unionized Starbucks stores because they're #Unionized! (Unless there's another union shop near you....)

and it was a huge success! with 90% of the vote, we are fucking ecstatic to say we won a strong mandate from our peers: they are confident in our ability to arrange the election for #HelloFresh’s first-ever #WorksCouncil.

#betriebsrat #unionize #unionized #workersrights #berlin #techworkers #berlintech

Baristas Form First #Unionized Peet's #Coffee in US With Help From #Starbucks Workers

https://www.commondreams.org/news/peet-s-coffee-workers-win-first-union

"Workers at #Apple’s first #unionized retail store began collectively bargaining with management on Wednesday, in a milestone moment not only for the #iPhone company but for all of Big Tech."

Apple's first US labor #union reaches new milestone for #techindustry | CNN Business
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/tech/apple-store-union-negotiations-begin/index.html

#SBWU stores are striking all this weekend due to corporate's refusal to roll out improvements at the stores that have #unionized, in an attempt by Schultz to destroy their collective progress.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/starbucks-strike-union-labor-workers-united-nlrb here's a small progressive outlet talking about the issue; in short, don't cross the line, even at non-union (i.e. non-striking) #Starbucks.

Ohio.

Workers at an EV Battery Plant Just #Unionized https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/workers-union-electric-vehicle-green-energy-labor/

Very exciting time at work as we announce the formation of GetThru Workers United and join the growing movement of #unionized tech workers!
#unite #solidarity #cwaunion #eattherich

Follow along at https://Twitter.com/gtworkersunited

And 2) the additional protection offered to units that were #unionized:

"Because the Atlantic Digital Optimization Team is unionized, Gannett will have to bargain over the changes with the union. Other DOT regionals are not as lucky."

And 2) the additional protection offered to units that were #unionized:

"Because the Atlantic Digital Optimization Team is unionized, Gannett will have to bargain over the changes with the union. Other DOT regionals are not as lucky."

Inspired by #Starbucks #unionorganizing, #PeetsCoffee workers file for #union elections "Leaders at the two Peet's stores say that they have near-unanimous buy-in from their co-workers" Peet's has 330+ locations across the US—none of which are #unionized. https://bit.ly/3F6FqZE

I mean this #elonmusk is just a huge piece of shit. #Twitter should’ve #unionized, not that that would’ve helped it the long run but wow. Humans deserve being treated with dignity . https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/elon-musks-twitter-tyranny-exposes-american-worker-reality-rcna57977