“I was working 35 hours per week, things were going really well, I really love my co-workers and everything.”īut Dickerson said her hours were reduced to just 18 per week.
SPENCERS GIFT MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION FULL
“I want to work full time here-I’ve graduated college, this is my only job,” said Dickerson. The new manager started severely cutting workers’ hours. According to Dickerson, “We were sent this new manager, which is what prompted us to strike eventually.
The workers at the 874 CommAve Starbucks unanimously voted to unionize June 3 by June 9, Starbucks struck back. That pushed me to want to work here, to want to be a part of it.” Dickerson said that both of her parents were also union members. “I grew up around unions, but being here I got the opportunity to do it for myself.” “I saw the first stores that unionized in Buffalo, and I knew that Starbucks workers were sort of leading this modern-day labor movement. When she saw that the Starbucks store up the street had unionized, she went to the first person she saw with a union pin and just asked, “Hey, can I get your information?”ĭickerson started working at 874 CommAve after the union effort had already started. “I’ve seen just how important unions are for my family historically, and how when they’re taken away, things tend to fall apart really quickly.” So as the wave of Starbucks stores organizing swept across the country, she was inspired. That said, it’s not necessarily an easy job, and not really the most fulfilling, and not the best paying.”Ĭostigan comes from a union family. “The people that I’ve met here have been very, very kind. It’s the first job she’s ever had where she actually likes all of her co-workers. | Noah Sigel / People’s WorldĪccording to another Starbucks worker, Taylor Dickerson, it’s a complicated feeling, “looking back and seeing that we’ve been going so strong and have been getting so much support-and it doesn’t seem like it’s stopping anytime soon-but it’s also like, ok, it’s been 30+ days and all we’ve heard from Starbucks is them pushing us off and not coming to the table and bargaining.” It’s super frustrating and stressful, she says, constantly wondering, “What are they planning?”Ĭostigan likes working at Starbucks. The mood on the picket line at 874 CommAve (as the workers call the store) is joyous the group is proud of how far they’ve come but frustrated by Starbucks’ refusal to come to the negotiating table. The Teamsters won’t cross a picket line, so no matter what hour of the day they show up, they won’t come through because we always have people here.” That’s all it’s taken, she says, “having people here, willing to hold a sign.” Costigan says since the strike started July 18 she’s been coming down to the picket line herself at least six days a week. “We have stopped every food delivery from coming in. She works at the Starbucks at 874 Commonwealth Ave here, where workers continue the longest strike in the history of Starbucks Workers United.Ĭostigan told People’s World that the workers have been on site 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
“Starbucks has more money than God, they have the cops on their side, they have the state on their side, and they have not been able to open this store.” Spencer Costigan says this with intensity and pride. | Noah Siegel / People's WorldīOSTON-With cupcakes and balloons on the picket line, Starbucks baristas celebrated 36 days on strike here this weekend.