Mayor-elect Mamdani and Bernie Sanders picket with striking Starbucks workers
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders joined the picket line Monday with striking Starbucks workers in Park Slope.
Unionized store workers have been on strike since last month to demand a contract that includes better hours and higher wages.
“These are not demands of greed – these are demands of decency,” Mamdani said. “These are workers who are simply asked to be treated with the respect they deserve. We ask that their work be rewarded in a way that allows them to build a dignified life.”
Sanders is a big supporter of Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ran on populist, pro-worker policies.
Starbucks United Workersrepresents more than 12,000 baristas in more than 600 locations nationwide.
“The Starbucks strikers who are telling this company that they are tired of corporate greed and they are tired of union fighting,” Sanders said on the picket line. “What’s happening here on this picket line is happening all over the country. We live in an economy where the people at the top have never had it better.”
Also Monday, Starbucks agreed to pay about $39 million to more than 15,000 New Yorkers to settle the city’s claims that the company violated laws requiring it to give workers predictable, stable schedules.
“No matter how big your business is or how much revenue it makes, if you violate the rights of our workers, you will pay the price,” Mayor Adams said in a statement.
Sydney West, a barista at Starbucks for five years, said employees face long commutes to pay minimum wage and unpredictable work environments, often short-staffed.
“We need viable conditions,” she said.
A Starbucks spokesperson stressed that the strike only affected 1% of its stores.
“We strive to continue to offer the best employment in retail, including an average of over $30 an hour in pay and benefits for hourly partners,” said Jaci Anderson, a company spokesperson. “The facts speak for themselves: partner engagement is increasing, revenue is almost half the industry average and we receive over a million applications per year. »
