Valentine messages usually are meant to spread love and share heartfelt feelings. But for a group of labor activists outside Starbucks in Downtown’s Market Square on Tuesday, the messages also had strong words for the high-end coffee chain’s management, which has been trying to discourage the efforts of baristas who are trying to unionize.
The group of about 20, organized by Labor Council for Latin American Advancement member Allison Petonic, sang union songs and handed out small valentine messages to the lunchtime crowd for about 45 minutes. Tom Hoffman, banjo player extraordinaire for the Pittsburgh Labor Choir, kept the troupe on beat and mostly in tune.
The supporters carried a series of holiday-themed signs with messages such as “Share the love, Starbucks,” “My heart beats union strong — just how I like my coffee” and “We love our coffee unionmade.” They also ordered coffee and other drinks from the outlet in cups marked “Union Strong.”
The group included members from the United Steelworkers, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council.
The messages of solidarity and support are important to workers at Starbucks, where unionization campaigns are underway at about 200 stores nationally and about a dozen in the Pittsburgh area, despite strong resistance from the company.
That’s particularly true at Market Square, where one organizer was fired and is pursuing reinstatement through an unfair labor practice charge filed by the National Labor Relations Board. An administrative law judge held a hearing recently, and a decision is pending.
The creative minds of the labor movement created lyrics such as these, sung to the tune “This Little Light of Mine”:
“My Starbucks cup of coffee
“It’s gotta be union made
“My Starbucks cup of coffee
“It’s gotta be union made
“My Starbucks cup of coffee
“It’s gotta be union made
“Union made, union made, union made.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.