Workers at the Starbucks on Port Republic Road in Harrisonburg are in the process of unionizing. They went on strike last week and are expected to vote on unionization this Friday, December 19. WMRA’s Calvin Pynn spoke with barista and union rep Michael Hulleman and asked what led to the decision to unionize.
Michael Hulleman: So, for a lot of us, we're facing a lot of the same conditions that workers all across the country are facing, particularly at Starbucks, but not at all exclusive to it. For us, a big issue has been both understaffing, so we have people, the company tries to cut as much labor as possible to put the least amount of people in the store as possible to keep up with demand. And that leads to a lot of overwork. It leads to people really having to run around on the floor, particularly, you know, you can miss out on some of the cleaning tasks, the upkeep that they ask you to do. It can lead to a lot of injuries and just exhaustion and overwork, especially when it's combined with kind of a neglect for people's breaks, people's breaks getting run not on time, people's breaks just being forgotten conveniently. A lot of us also either are working multiple jobs or are students, and a lot of people just aren't getting scheduled enough hours that they need, you know, in order to make rent to pay all of their bills. So, a lot of our workers, a lot of our partners, are having to choose between, am I paying my rent this month or am I buying groceries? And there’s just a lot of frustration that comes with that, especially when you feel like you have a management that doesn't really want to listen to you, that doesn't really take your concerns or your interests at heart. And when it feels like the company's only being run for the benefit of, you know, the shareholders or the CEO or the people that are, you know, taking home the vast amount of profits. At the end of the day, they're paying our CEO, Brian Nichols, $100 million for what comes out to four months of work, which is 600 or 6,666 times more than what the average barista makes. And so, it's, you know, it's a lot of that kind of stuff.
WMRA: I was looking at it earlier. I know that as of 2024, as of last year, there have been 500 stores across the country that had unionized. Have they provided any guidance on how to go about this?
Hulleman: Yeah, so there's over 650 stores now that have won their union election, and there's more and more that are voting every day, and we are excited and proud to join them, hopefully by the end of the week. And yeah, we've had contact with different folks who are unionized. A lot of us either know people that live in Richmond, work in Richmond, a lot of the Richmond stores are unionized actually on the picket line today. I FaceTimed one of our, one of the people that used to work at our store who now is unionized in Richmond, is actually out on strike. So, we've been we've been talking and that’s been a big boost for morale, particularly for people to be able to see that, hey, it can happen over there. And if it can happen over there, it can happen here.
WMRA: Starting with this store, are you all in contact with other stores nearby that are where, you know, the employees may be talking about possibly trying to unionize? And what do those conversations look like?
Hulleman: Yeah, I mean, it's always the hope that us taking action inspires others to take action. Because at the end of the day, what we experience at our store is no different than what anyone else in the city or anyone else in the country, even who works at Starbucks, is experiencing. And as someone who's worked, you know, various jobs in the service industry in this area, it's not even unique to Starbucks. And so, we want to be very conscious about understanding that when we're standing up and we're fighting for ourselves, we're not just fighting for the workers that we look around and are clocking in with every day. We are fighting for every single person that works in the food service industry. This would be the first contract in the US fast food industry ever. So we have an opportunity to really set the standard to show workers everywhere, whether it's in the Starbucks in town, whether it's in the poultry plants, whether it's in, you know, the restaurants downtown, that when you stand up and when you fight for yourselves, you have power and you can win.
WMRA: Have you had any response from corporate, as it would be? And what have those conversations sounded like?
Hulleman: Oh, it is funny that you ask. We, yeah, since we filed for On November 14, or I think it was November 15, I believe, we had what we call a march on the boss, where we briefly stopped production to let management know both of our grievances and also to let them know our intent to unionize and that we are filing a petition for union election. And ever since then, we have seen very intentional corporate union busting. They have flown basically like their expert corporate union buster in to our store. He was in just before Thanksgiving and he was back these last few days just hanging around, trying to talk up to people, trying to kind of, you know, spread what they would call information, what we would call misinformation about the union, about what it is. It really all boils down to intimidating workers, making them feel like they don't really have a say in what happens, that they don't have power to stand up, and it's best if they just walk around with their heads down. And so that's what we have been fighting up against. And that is what has gotten Starbucks in so much trouble. And in fact, why we are all going on strike is over all of their unfair labor practices, their labor law violations, particularly related to union busting, A lot of other stores, especially early on in the campaign, saw pro-union supporters being just fired outright, unfair discipline, et cetera, and just retaliation. And so, we want to make a stand, and we want to show the company that we're not messing around. And if they want to push on us, we can respond and that we're not we're not going to take it.
WMRA: Those seem like those would be fairly Intimidating interactions. How have you all, how have you all handled?
Hulleman: I think the key is, whether it's that situation or whether it's any type of, dealing with any type of response from management or standing up for yourself, is to really make sure that everyone is sticking together and everyone knows that we have each other's backs. Because when we stand up collectively, when we stand up, you know, with a spine, with a backbone, they can't push us around the way they want to push us around. But if we stay divided, if we are only thinking about how should I act and what's best for me instead of what's best for collective, we'll end up actually hurting ourselves in the long run because it's this collective action that protects us. It's the fact that I'm standing up. If I stand up alone, you can pick on me. But if we all stand up, you can't pick on all of us.
WMRA: How many employees are over at the Port Republic store?
Hulleman: We have either 23 or 24 employees.
WMRA: And I understand too that there's been a fair amount of community support. I've seen some talk of this on social media, but also, I mean, there was a demonstration last month, I believe it was, and people showed up, there was like a study in. I'd love to know, how does that help the overall mission?
Hulleman: It means, it genuinely means the world to us. for people inside that store to see that what we are doing is not just about the people within these four walls, but we're a part of something bigger and that when we stand up, other people stand up with us has been huge. You know, my generation, I'm on the younger side, we don't really have a lot of union experience, a lot of labor organizing experience, a lot of striking experience or anything like that. And so, it takes a lot, it takes a lot of courage to stand up to your boss. It takes a lot of, it takes even more courage to stand up together. And it takes even more so to do it in a very public fashion and to have to really stand on, you know, what you're fighting for and to see it through to the end. So, for the workers in the store to see that there's a community out there that backs them, that supports them, it's a huge boost both for morale and also for our fighting spirit. And our fighting spirit is what's most essential. Because if we don't have that, then we can't win. If we're willing to fight, then we have a puncher's chance. If we're not willing to fight, we won't be in the game.
WMRA: So, I'm thinking of next steps that you had, you had outlined earlier. I know that an official vote is on the horizon. Could you remind me when that is again?
Hulleman: That is Friday, December 19.
WMRA: Okay. And how would this work? Would it need to be unanimous? For those who have never gone through the steps of unionizing their workplace, how would you get from that point A to that point B?
Hulleman: Yeah, so it starts by, talking to your coworkers, understanding people's grievances, kind of showing everybody that all of our grievances are really stemming from very similar problems and similar experiences, because at the end of the day, we're in the same workplace, we're in the same positions most of the time, we're facing a lot of similar things. And you sign, you can sign people to union cards, which is just like an intent to unionize once you have a certain percentage of the store signed up to union cards, you can file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. At our election, the majority of votes cast, if you win the majority of votes cast saying yes to forming a union, then you have your union. So, you know, if two people show up to vote and one person votes no, one person says yes, you don't have a union. If three people show up to vote, two people vote yes, one person votes no, then you do have your union. You know, and it's for us, it's always important to also show not just, you know, not just to win, but to win strongly, to show this is what a majority is, to demonstrate to the company that we have numbers at our back and we're not going to stop.
WMRA: After the vote, what would be next? In either direction, you know, whether the union is recognized or not. What happens at that point?
Hulleman: Yeah, the hope and what we are very confident is going to happen and we are very proud is that we are going to win our union election. We are going to be the first store in Harrisonburg to have a union, which we're very excited for, very proud of. And the fight only begins from that point. It's really only just getting started because Winning things in your workplace and standing up for yourself is an everyday occurrence. Just because we've won a union election doesn't mean the company is going to look at us any differently or treat us any differently. And we know what we want. fair treatment. We want fair pay. We want consistent staffing, consistent scheduling. We want to be able to, you know, live dignified lives and to treat our customers with the care and the, you know, the care and respect and the time that they deserve. So, we want Starbucks to be better and we want to fight. We want to struggle. We want to fight so that Starbucks can be better so that we can deliver a better experience to our customers. We can have better experiences as baristas, as workers. And so, it's only getting started.
WMRA: Is there anything else on your mind that I didn't think to ask that you'd like to share while I've got you here?
Hulleman: Just on the note of the community, we want to share just a huge thank you and gratitude to our local community for the support that they have lended us, particularly the Harrisonburg Educators Association. They voted both to support our union and to support our strike effort. And we think it's very important for us to use this as an opportunity, as a moment to bring the community closer together. Harrisonburg has always been a city that stands up for and fights for people who are on the bottom of the food chain, people who are facing injustice and oppression. And we see this as an opportunity for Harrisonburg to stand up and do the same thing. And when we have the opportunity to help others, you best believe that we will.
WMRA: Well, Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to come in.
Hulleman: Yeah, thank you so much for having us.
