The Carbondale Starbucks joined a national strike on Dec. 4 for fair pay, fair hours, and balanced staffing. Carbondale is home to one of the only unionized Starbucks stores in southern Illinois, the only other one being located in O’Fallon. 

For the past month, Starbucks union workers across the country have been striking against their company. Union stores in over 105 cities have joined the picket line since Nov. 13, when the strike began. The company has come under fire many times for purposefully making the lives of workers more difficult.

One such instance of this was settled in New York City, where Starbucks agreed to pay out over 38 million because the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found repeated and frequent violations of the Fair Workweek Law since 2021, which guaranteed workers the right to consistent scheduling in New York City. 

While Carbondale is certainly not New York City, the issues faced there remain the same for workers across the country. 

This strike comes after Starbucks withdrew from negotiation with the union about a contract for fair pay, hours, and staffing after six months without compromise.

Despite the freezing temperatures, workers huddled together for warmth on Dec. 8 outside of the Carbondale location. They settled on the lawn in front of the dark, vacant Starbucks on Main Street with a tent and signs they had made themselves from wood and nails. 

Workers held signs with several different messages. One read, “People over profits,” and another read, “No contract, no coffee.”

There were people waiting in the drive-thru line for a store that wouldn’t open, but many Carbondale citizens came out to show their support, honking as they passed the strike. Regulars of the store brought donuts and coffee to the workers striking.

There’s been a lot of changes since Brian Niccol became the company’s CEO, Union representative Laurel Roan said.

Roan cited the major issues that the union has with the coffee giant as the company’s refusal to negotiate with the union and Niccol’s refusal to listen to the workers.

Roan had worked at a different Starbucks store that is not unionized before they began working at the union location in Carbondale. 

“It took two years for me to get into the store because no one wanted to leave,” Roan said.

They previously worked at a Target-licensed Starbucks location in Marion, where pest control issues had caused problems in the store. 

Now at a new location with a Union presence, Roan said they feel “safe as part of a collective that cares about me as an individual and a worker.” 

“We have a whole army. We’re able to have a voice,” Roan said. “We don’t have to be scared.”

Sophie O’Rourke, a worker involved in the strike, started working for Starbucks in 2017. She’s worked in three different locations over the years. She had to take time away from work three separate times because of the mental health crises that the work put her through, she said. But, she said, some of the best people she’s ever met have been her coworkers at Starbucks.

Despite the good company, O’Rourke said, “The pay isn’t enough and management doesn’t understand.”

“A corporation is not concerned about you,” O’Rourke said. “That’s a union’s job.”

Staff Reporter Orion Wolf can be reached at [email protected] or orionwolf6 on Instagram

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