Starbucks baristas shut down the store at LaPorte Avenue and Silhavy Road in Valparaiso at noon on Christmas Eve in an attempt to bring the coffee behemoth to recognize the only unionized store in Valparaiso. It was one of 500 stores staging walkouts nationwide.
A seasonal decal on the window of the coffee shop read “Old friends and new traditions.” For the striking baristas, it was a case of new friends and old traditions as union members of several other unions joined them in solidarity on the sidewalk fronting Lincolnway.
Steelworkers Local 12775 representing NIPSCO employees, the NIPSCO Clerical Union, and the Indiana State Teachers Association were all in attendance chanting “No contract, no coffee” and “Understaffed and lousy pay, that’s the way your coffee’s made.”
Vern Beck, vice president of Steelworkers Local 12775, which represents NIPSCO employees, said he and several other members of his union were out in the cold “because we get help from other unions when we strike so we always try to go out and help.” He recalled people from other unions coming out for a strike in 1980, as well as a march in 1997 from the old Radisson Theater to NIPSCO headquarters. “We had about 5,000 people who were not part of NIPSCO who showed up to march with us,” he recalled.
The other unions present know that the 18 baristas from Starbucks Workers United are a small group. Barista Mary Reedy has been with Starbucks for 12 years and says the high turnover adds to the challenge. “It’s been interesting and tricky,” she said of unionization efforts.
It will be two years in February that the store unionized. “Overall, I haven’t felt any super antagonistic thing,” she said of the atmosphere at work in the interim. “I’m just really disappointed it’s taking so long.”
Deb Porter, UniServ Director for the ISTA, said “It’s a small union and so they need support.” Teachers in Indiana aren’t legally able to strike, so she was happy to help others who can.
Mihoreyah Thomas and Tangela Truitt, president and vice president of the NIPSCO Clerical Union, respectively, felt it was more than worth it to give up half their Christmas Eve to offer solidarity. “They have been working without a contract,” Thomas said. “We want to see them well-off just like their fellow union brothers and sisters,” Truitt added.
Starbucks Workers United Bargaining Representative Reagan Skaggs said Starbucks has a lot of unresolved unfair labor practices claims. “They owe a lot of partners raises,” she said, adding that many coworkers are also owed unpaid credit card tips from the period when they were first rolled out to customers.
The picketers got lots of honks of support from passersby and regular customer Jasmine Ellingen, of Valparaiso, and her boyfriend stopped by with coffee and treats from local independent coffee shop Blackbird Cafe in Valparaiso to warm up the picketers. They wanted to offer “some moral support,” Ellingen said.
“It’s cold. It’s Christmas Eve. It will help them stay warm as they’re making an effort.”
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
