海角大神

Richard Bensinger, an organizer with Workers United, has been helping workers form unions for four decades. But he says he鈥檚 never worked with a group as passionate as the Starbucks baristas in Buffalo, New York.

With Starbucks鈥� quarterly revenue hitting earlier this year, employees across three Buffalo stores say they have been asked to do more work for the same pay despite health risks. Meanwhile, they saw their unionized colleagues at another Buffalo coffee chain, Spot Coffee, vote to temporarily close their stores when pandemic caseloads were high.听

So last week, more than 50 Buffalo employees to form their own union, called Starbucks Workers United. If successful, it would be the first for the nearly 9,000 company-owned Starbucks locations in the United States.听Three days after their initial meeting, a majority of the stores鈥� eligible employees had signed cards in favor of unionizing.听

鈥淚t was pretty old-fashioned,鈥� recalls barista Jaz Brisack, describing how she and her colleagues signed pieces of paper on the drink counter.听

Not only are the Buffalo baristas incredibly motivated, says Mr. Bensinger; they鈥檙e incredibly young. And while they may not look like stereotypical union workers of America鈥檚 past, they are a central force behind today鈥檚 rising pro-union sentiment. According to , public support for unions is at a 17-year high, with Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 more likely to approve of unions than their older peers.听

But it鈥檚 not just young people鈥檚 left-leaning politics that鈥檚 causing a 鈥渢ectonic shift in workplace power relations,鈥� as Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, puts it.听

The uptick in union support is part of a larger national shift toward worker empowerment, say experts, fueled by a pandemic economy that has blended strong consumer demand with a shortage of workers for many public-facing service sector jobs. In 2021, quit rates are the highest they have been since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping track in 2000.

Whether it鈥檚 pandemic parenting challenges, increased unemployment benefits, or heightened concerns over workplace safety that are keeping workers away, help is wanted. And that means those still working have more leverage to demand higher pay, improved conditions, and better work-life balance.

鈥淵ou hear about all these businesses who are struggling to keep people hired, and that has played a part [in our decision to unionize] because it shows that it is harder for them to replace us,鈥� says Michael Sanabria, a Buffalo barista who has worked for Starbucks for almost four years. 鈥淪o please, really listen to our voice, because we don鈥檛 want to go work elsewhere.鈥澛�

鈥淎 lightbulb moment鈥�

Almost 6 million restaurant workers lost their jobs during the first few months of COVID-19 lockdowns, says Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Of those, 63% were unable to qualify for unemployment benefits because their pre-tip wages were too low.听聽

鈥淭hat was kind of a lightbulb moment for a lot of these workers,鈥� says Ms. Jayaraman. 鈥淭his is the first time in 150 years that you鈥檙e seeing this level of rejection by workers of a subminimum wage.鈥� She adds, 鈥淭hat is new, and that is powerful.鈥�

Still, it remains to be seen whether workers will capitalize on the current climate in a way that cements long-term change. Many may accept one-time bonuses and other short-term incentives instead of pushing for broader and more permanent gains, such as by organizing unions or campaigning for higher minimum wage laws.

Michael Bonfigli/Special to the 海角大神 Science Monitor

Liz Shuler, AFL-CIO president, speaks at the St. Regis Hotel on Aug. 31, 2021, in Washington. She says Washington has 鈥渢he most pro-worker administration in history鈥� under President Joe Biden.

That鈥檚 something Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers, warned against at a Monitor Breakfast earlier this week. She referenced a 2018 protest at Google, when聽 walked off the job in response to how the company had handled sexual assault allegations. The protesters sent Google a list of demands, but .听

鈥淭hings have just gone back to the status quo [at Google] because they didn鈥檛 have an organized way, with the enforcement of the law behind them, to sustain it,鈥� says Ms. Shuler. 鈥淔olks are starting to connect the dots, especially in industries that traditionally haven鈥檛 had unions. ... We must meet this moment by building a modern labor movement.鈥�

That also means taking advantage of the moment politically, adds Ms. Shuler, especially when Washington has 鈥渢he most pro-worker administration in history鈥� under President Joe Biden. The AFL-CIO has campaigned for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would nullify right-to-work laws in place in several states and prohibit employer interference in union elections.听

Although the PRO Act passed the House in March, it stands little chance of passing the closely divided Senate. Still, the pandemic has done much to further pro-union sentiment outside Washington, where many of the country鈥檚 鈥渆ssential workers鈥� have felt underappreciated.

鈥淪tarbucks has been saying we are the heroes on the front line. We got vaccines earlier because we are 鈥榚ssential workers,鈥欌�� says Ms. Brisack, the barista at Buffalo鈥檚 Elmwood Avenue branch. 鈥淏ut if we are essential, then it should also be essential to give us a voice in making these decisions that affect us.鈥�

Another social justice cause

A 2020 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found sales and food-serving occupations have some of of any occupational group. Simultaneously, these workers have been among the by the pandemic over the past year and a half, creating what one Buffalo barista calls 鈥渁 perfect storm.鈥澛�

At the eye of this storm are young workers, who are聽 to be employed in these nonunionized, at-risk occupations. Last year, , or those under the age of 24, rose to almost 25%.听

鈥淢y generation, I think we screwed everything up,鈥� says Mr. Bensinger, a baby boomer. 鈥淕en Z is smart, underappreciated, and underpaid.鈥�

Although he admits to not always understanding the memes circulating around the office, Mr. Bensinger says young people are 鈥渓eading an incredible resurgence for the labor movement鈥� by including labor rights as another social justice cause worth fighting for.听

鈥淲e work for a company that touts itself as a leader in supporting [Black Lives Matter] and LGBTQ rights 鈥� but they union-bust,鈥� says Ms. Brisack of Starbucks. 鈥淭here is even less acceptance for that [now] than there has been.鈥澛�

Still, not all young workers taking advantage of the current economy to demand better conditions say a union is the answer.听

Raven Harper, for example, a millennial tech worker in Nashville, Tennessee, hadn鈥檛 been searching for a new job for long when she received three offers all at once. So she decided to be clear with the company she was most interested in about her wants in terms of salary, health benefits for her children and her husband, and paid time off.听

She says she got her new employer to agree to it all, without the help of a union.

Ms. Harper previously worked for a company with a union, and while she appreciated it sometimes, she doesn鈥檛 think she would join one again if she had the choice. She says much of the current shift toward workers鈥� rights is thanks to her generation鈥檚 attitude toward work and unwillingness to settle.听

鈥淭he generation that I鈥檓 a part of, we鈥檙e movers and shakers,鈥� says Ms. Harper. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 accept the bare minimum, or we鈥檙e trying not to. We鈥檙e trying to do better and see better for ourselves.鈥澛�

Back in Buffalo, Ms. Brisack and Mr. Sanabria also credit their generation鈥檚 values for helping their fledgling unionization campaign, which they say has been marked by a strong camaraderie.

鈥淲e are all working together for one cause,鈥� says Mr. Sanabria, 鈥渁nd that cause is us.鈥�

Staff writer Erika Page contributed to this report.