Starbucks baristas at unionized stores in Alpharetta and Roswell walked off the job and shut down both stores for the coffee giant’s “Red Cup Day” launching its busy holiday season.
The 44 local baristas joined over 1,000 striking Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) members in the Nov. 13 walkout, which has swept 65 unionized stores in 40 cities. After years of stalled negotiations, they’re demanding that Starbucks finalize a union contract with better staffing and higher pay – and resolve over 700 unfair labor practice charges, most alleging union-busting.
The union is asking the public to boycott Starbucks and respect picket lines during the strike.which SBWU organizers have said could extend to other union shops.
Atlanta Civic Circle spoke with striking baristas about the daily pressures that prompted them to walk out at an SBWU rally held outside the shut-down Alpharetta store, located at 10830 Haynes Bridge Road.
Danielle Stolton, 36, has worked as a Starbucks shift supervisor for 11 years at the Alpharetta shop. For years, she said, she believed in the company. “Starbucks was the first job I had that made me feel like I mattered as an employee.”
But in recent years, staffing has been cut nearly in half, she said. Morning shifts once staffed with eight workers are down to only four or five, while afternoon and evening shifts that used to run with five or six workers are now down to three. All the while, the high-volume store is expected to meet the same performance benchmarks, she said.
Stolton said her store unanimously voted to unionize last year, because management didn’t respond to their concerns about understaffing and pay.
Stolton’s $23-per-hour wage for a 32-hour week makes her one of the Alpharetta store’s highest-paid workers, but she still struggles to stay afloat. She commutes over 15 miles to work from Woodstock, where she lives with her husband, a 911 dispatcher. “We can’t afford Alpharetta,” she said.
Out of roughly $1,800 in monthly take-home pay, Stolton said, about $300 goes to her car payment, $800 covers half the couple’s mortgage, and another $300 goes to groceries and gas.
“We are still paycheck to paycheck. A big emergency wipes us,” she said, adding that she spent $1,500 last year on unexpected medical bills. “Our safety net is letting something float on a credit card.”
Another barista at the Alpharetta store, Madeline Muhammad, 21, said the nearly $1,500 per month that she makes isn’t enough to cover her basic expenses, even though she lives with her family while attending Georgia State University on a HOPE scholarship.
This week, she said, she had just $19 left after making her $500 car payment and helping her mother with groceries and bills. Earlier this year, she couldn’t afford $125 physical therapy sessions for a work-related knee injury. The union’s push for 5% annual raises, would earn Muhammad an extra $75 to $100 per month. “With that extra hundred dollars, I could go to my physical therapy at least once a month, or help out my momma a little bit,” she said.
Erin Utz, 33, a barista at the unionized Roswell Starbucks at 1570 Holcomb Bridge Road, said understaffing has created a stressful work environment for both baristas and customers. “I’ve gotten to the point where I’m literally wanting to scream,” Utz said. ”Everyone’s just gonna be kind of cranky and miserable – and it just makes the [customer] experience miserable.”
Jillian Christie, 22, a barista at a Cumming Starbucks that unionized in March, is feeling similar strains. “You’ve got orders coming in on four channels: drive-thru, online, delivery and cafe,” Christie said of their location at 2320 Atlanta Highway. “Three people can’t do that, I get home exhausted every day.”
Christie said half their paycheck goes toward rent on a shared $1,900 per month apartment, and the rest disappears into groceries and bills. Saving money isn’t an option, they said.
Starbucks Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said the company is committed to bargaining in a public letter issued after SBWU members voted Nov. 5 to strike. “Our commitment to bargaining hasn’t changed,” she said. “We’re ready to talk. We believe we can move quickly to a reasonable deal.
SBWU in Atlanta has set up a local solidarity fund in addition to the national strike fund to support striking workers.
The Democratic Socialists of America’s Atlanta chapter is holding a benefit concert for striking workers in East Point on Nov. 16, featuring local acts such as Starpower and Slime Ring. There is a suggested $10 to $20 donation, and doors open at 6 p.m.
