They’re venti mad.
Socialist leaders, Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani and Senator Bernie Sanders, joined a growing number of Starbucks baristas on Monday’s picket line in Brooklyn. This came right after outgoing Mayor Eric Adams announced a $39 million settlement meant to compensate workers for lost wages.
Mamdani used the platform to connect the union’s demands with his campaign’s focus on affordability and improving the lives of down‑on‑their‑feet workers. Speaking outside a Gowanus Starbucks, he declared:
“Because all of us are united in the belief that we must build in New York where every worker can live a life of decency,” he said. “We must build a New York where our words do not ring hollow. As we say that this is a union town, and we must build a New York where the workers who power it are able to afford to live in it.”
The solidarity wave arrived as Adams finally disclosed an unprecedented worker protection deal for 15,000 Starbucks employees who had been denied reliable schedules. The agreement will pay each affected worker $50 for every week worked between July 4 2021 and July 7 2024.
“With this landmark settlement, we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard‑working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity,” Adams said in a statement.
However, the deal only addresses past violations in the city and does not meet the union’s ongoing calls for higher pay, better staffing levels, and improved working hours. The strike now impacts more than 100 stores across the city and in nearby towns.
Kaari Harsila, 21, a strike captain for the Starbucks Workers United union, explained the impact: “Within the stores, you can see the effects of understaffing and low hours for people,” she said. “Once they come back to the table and once they come back to the table to finalize the contract, we will be ready to be done.”
Meanwhile, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol secured $96 million in compensation after just four months on the job, a figure that starkly contrasts with many baristas who live paycheck to paycheck. Mamdani and Sanders heatedly expressed their frustration.
“We are living in an economy where the people on top have never, ever had it so good,” Sanders said.
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