The Starbucks Workers United (SWU) union went out on an “open ended” unfair labor practice (ULP) strike on November 13th. Reported to have started with 40 cities and 65 stores. The strategy centered around the “Red Cup Day” promotion which is a busy time for the company. The strike, the union said, is a protest for better contracts, pay and staffing. The SWU union itself was originally organized by Workers United which is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The SEIU, a business service union, presents itself as an organizer led union member “inclusive” style union. In reality it’s no different than other collaborative boss linked business service unions. Where the leadership and paid staff keep the union members uninformed from big picture things such as strikes and negotiations to not even knowing the union representative assigned to their shop floor. They push electoralism and legalities on the union members as solutions to their immediate economic and working conditions.

This is the crux of the matter in which the class faces the established unions in the United States. Everything is funneled through the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Through long drawn out grievance processes where hundreds of cases have not been addressed. As seen with cases against Starbucks, where workers are continuing to fight for a contract. Part of the demands of the strike is that these grievances be addressed. While the overwhelming yes strike vote by itself is touted as a great victory by the SWU who present it as a vague threat (“Pay up or Else”) the bosses laugh and continue the abuse of workers calling their bluff knowing full well SWU does not intend to effectively mobilize the strike union wide much less from picket line to picket line. Their constant fumbling of the negotiations with Starbucks has given them incentive to keep their dealing under wraps behind closed bargaining in contrast to open bargaining that allows workers to sit in. These unions count on keeping union militancy at a low ceiling, siphoning workers’ energy, to maintain a status quo of horrible contracts with leadership keeping their posts and from time to time giving themselves raises for their hard work. Misdirecting workers is quite tiring afterall!

When conditions continue to worsen as a result, SWU funnels rising workers’ anger and militancy towards the Democratic Party (i.e. the electoral game) sometimes coupled with ULP strikes. Our current has always noted these business unions’ function is to channel militancy into the legal process and misdirect their potential strike strength of mobilizing as many workers as possible in an effective manner towards the Democratic Party.

These ULP strikes, when they do happen, require giving the bosses a warning in advance that a strike action is going to take place and most of the time with an end date in mind, often a single day or a week. Often, the workers aren’t taught how to even form a picket line, much less are provided with materials needed for the picket. This current strike by the Starbucks workers, led by the SWU, is being called an indefinite economic ULP strike with the union stating that it will strike until the company comes to the negotiating table in “good faith”. Meanwhile the workers, especially the genuine militant ones are suppressed and kept in the dark by union staff and interns that are seeking to become union paid staff. They conspire against workers organizing against putting no strike clauses in the contracts which effectively puts in legal writing the workers aren’t allowed to go on strike during the duration of the contract which is typically between 3 and 4 years. All in favor of “keeping labor peace”.

We as party militants must continue to agitate and organize the most militant workers open to the positions of class unionism. Forming class union caucuses and committees. Coalescing these workers into fighting bodies equipped with the understanding that we must build the class union. Pushing back against the strategies of the business union leaders in collaboration with the bosses and robbing them of the peace of mind they can pilfer our livelihoods. We must push back against these ideas of allowing managers into the unions or having any say in the activities of the union. We must go out on indefinite strikes and bring the bosses to their knees uniting workers on class demands of high wages and a reduced working day.