Organizing is no longer solely an old-school manufacturing game. Look at the United Auto Workers, which has branched out into academia to the point where higher education workers make up 25% of the membership.
Likewise, the Communication Workers of America’s CODE-CWA initiative has descended upon tech workers, including gaming studios. And in the food service industry, which seemed impervious to union infiltration due to high turnover, workers follow the lead of Starbucks baristas.
Union petitions are up, but union density sits at a historic low. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that only 1.4% of the food-service workforce belongs to unions. The industry is seeing rapid growth in petitions, from 30 to 450 in 2022, and a union victory rate of 80%.
The industry’s predominantly younger workforce can explain part of this. Gen Z’s union approval rate is stunningly high at 64.3%, and they are technologically savvy and largely liberal. They are also more vulnerable to unions’ new strategies, including social media, that spread their message stealthily and effectively.
So, too, have unions changed their targets by honing in on so-called “progressive” employers, which proclaim support for certain values that workers are now challenging.
Such is the case for Ben & Jerry’s, founded by a pair of hippies and known for social activism and a “linked prosperity” motto. This month, workers at a scoop shop in Burlington, VT, voted unanimously to form the company’s first union. Tellingly, these workers adopted the Scoopers United label, so – you guessed it – this is the work of Workers United of Starbucks organizing fame. A key player in this drive is union-organizer-turned-barista Jaz Brisack, who was paid $68,000 in 2021 by Workers United while also being a salt at Starbucks.
In an echo of the Red Cup Rebellion waged by Starbucks baristas in 2022, Ben & Jerry’s workers expressed disappointment with how their tip jar allegedly disappeared on the company’s Free Cone Day, held on April 3.
Also, like Starbucks, which offers workers health insurance and tuition reimbursement, Ben & Jerry’s bestows generous benefits, including paid family leave and plentiful free ice cream. This hasn’t insulated them from organizers, and the company has issued a statement of support for the union effort.
As we’ve seen with Starbucks, however, workers will realize too late that the bargaining table may not bring their desired results.
Case in point: Workers United claimed its 300th organized cafe from the coffeehouse giant this month. (Recent union victories include locations in Madison, WI; Pleasanton, CA; Oak Park, IL.) One year of negotiations later, no union contracts exist.
Another progressive employer, Trader Joe’s, saw a win and a loss in union votes this month. This adds up to four unionized stores within the left-leaning company, which also had a close call with a tie vote in New York.
