On Thursday December 9th, 2021, Starbucks employees in Buffalo New York, voted to form a union. It is the first of more than 8, 000 locations in the US (Molla, 2021, Vox.com) Not only does this mean negotiation power for employees of this Starbucks location but it creates a model/hope for other locations and workers in non-unionized giant corporations everywhere.

My first job was at a giant rental chain that is known for its lack of unions. They promised an open door (which was rotating with different managers who held little power anyway), better wages and all kinds of other promises that rarely came true.  I quickly bought in to the ideas against unionizing as I was still learning how to be an employee, what my rights could be and truly didn’t know any better.. My first job with a union shocked me. I had benefits, security in the job and felt a sense of power I had no idea was missing. I am still frustrated at how excited I was to find out I could now use the washroom when I needed to.

Winnipeg History

What was very strange about my thinking for awhile that unions were unnecessary (thus corporations extra powerful) is I am a settler in Winnipeg, where the most famous general strike happened in 1919. I see monuments and murals in ode to the 30, 000 strikers who went on strike for 6 weeks, the climax being Bloody Saturday where 30 people were killed mainly by police gunfire. Winnipeggers learn of the importance of workers rights, fair wages and safe working conditions yet union busters work hard to unteach this, for more money in corporations’ pockets.

Today, We know that as union power was weakened in the US, worker wages shrank. We also know that globalization has sent jobs to lower labour cost countries. Unions are the only option to fight back. In solidarity, workers have bargaining power and this matters in a world where we are constantly told that we don’t have power.

Sources:

Molla, Rani (December 9th 2021) What the first Starbucks union means for workers everywhere, Vox News

Reich, Robert (2019) Why Unions Matter to You https://youtu.be/402m57yFjTM

Wikipedia (N.D) Winnipeg general strike, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_general_strike