Madison Starbucks Becomes Fourth in the State to Unionize as Four More Seek Union Recognition


     John Adams once declared that July 2nd would be "celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival" of American independence; of course, that would actually happen two days later, when the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted as issued. As such, while John Adams is my favorite founder, I've chosen July 4th as the day to launch the Manchin Project, a project aimed at achieving America's independence from coal power. That will be tomorrow. This month is a busy one, as I will be celebrating my birthday on July 17th, but that won't stop me from launching still more efforts to defend the social and economic progress we have made so far and continue to move America forward.

     As such, while the Manchin Project is designed to oppose coal specifically but nationwide, I envisioned the project I am announcing today, Wisconsin (WI) Vision 2050, as a way to achieve carbon neutrality more broadly but in the state of Wisconsin specifically. That is still a goal, probably the most important one conceivable and one that I intend on achieving with or without the GOP's death grip on the Wisconsin legislature, city by city and county by county. However, I have decided to expand the project at its outset to include another cause that means a lot to me and one that I can take meaningful action on: the right to organize. 

     First up is Starbucks. Between December 9th, 2021, when the first Starbucks voted to unionize in Buffalo, New York, and June 30th, 2022, when a Starbucks in Madison, Wisconsin, voted 15 to one in favor of unionization, three other Starbucks would unionize in Wisconsin among nearly 200 across the country: one in Appleton, one in Plover, and one in Oak Creek. During this time, four more Starbucks applied for union elections dates, one each in West Allis, Fitchburg, Monona, and another Madison location. That brings the total of Starbucks that have applied to unionize in Wisconsin in eight over the course of eight months. 

     In total, there are 150 Starbucks locations in Wisconsin, a large number that represents only a small portion of the 9,000 cross the nation. Still, the rate of Starbucks in Wisconsin applying to unionize is far outpacing the rate of Starbucks unionizing around the nation as a whole. That's something to be proud of, for sure, but it should serve, and, in my case, has served, as an inspiration to assist employees in as many stores as possible across my state unionize. Starbucks workers earn more than 10 percent more when they are unionized compared to non-union workers; that's the difference between making it and not making it, especially at a company that pays starvation wages like Starbucks does.

     These workers have endured union busting tactics ranging from closing unionized stores to firing organizers to combining multiple stores into one to threatening healthcare benefits for transgender employees and much more. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to seek a better life for oneself and one's coworkers when the brunt of corporate America is against them, and I am with the Starbucks workers in this fight for as long as it takes.

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