RPM takes you to Brazil and Florida, two places on the frontlines of climate chaos. We are joined by Benjamin Fogel from Jacobin and Richie Floyd from St Petersburg City Council. We will be talking about the elections in Brazil and the impact of Hurricane Ian on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Since their election victory on June 22, unionized workers at the Ansley Mall Starbucks in Atlanta are still waiting on Starbucks corporate to meet them at the bargaining table. Despite over 200 Starbucks locations voting to unionize across the country, including two stores here in Atlanta, Starbucks has refused to engage in good faith to reach a bargaining agreement with Starbucks partners. As of last week, only 3 of the 240 unionized stores have begun bargaining sessions with corporate.

To escalate their demands to begin negotiations, unionized stores have launched strikes, lasting a day or more, to demonstrate to management and corporate how much their labor is really worth. On National Coffee Day last Thursday, partners at the Ansley Mall Starbucks walked out at the start of their 5:30 AM shift, in protest of Starbucks’s refusal to bargain, in addition to a recent rescinding of COVID-19 benefits which the company introduced at the start of the pandemic.

Starbucks partners, DSA, and community supporters convened outside the store with coffee and donuts, holding picket signs and chanting “No contract, no coffee!” from early morning until late that afternoon. 

“We want a contract,” said Nick, a Starbucks partner on the picket line outside the store. “We still haven’t gotten any word from Starbucks corporate yet, and we want to make sure we have our voices heard and that we get our contract negotiations under way.”

Another partner of 3 ½ years said, “We are striking because we want better healthcare, wages, and working conditions. Since the start of COVID, our wages haven’t increased, our benefits haven’t improved, and the few benefits they have given us are about to be taken away. We’re tired of it and we want to bring awareness to how they’re being treated.”

Partners also noted frequent understaffing of stores, which puts an extra load on workers during busy days. “I have been on the floor by myself for half an hour before and I was not supported at all,” said one worker. “It’s not fair to people here trying to make a living.”

Over the course of the day, Starbucks partners and supporters were joined by union supporters, including the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council, United Campus Workers, Unite Here, and the International Painters Union (IUPAT). Customers who encountered the picket line showed solidarity by refusing to enter the store, wishing workers luck on their campaign to pressure corporate. Management closed the store down by noon, after attempting to run the store themselves, with the help of a scab.

While Ansley Mall and other stores across the country wait for their negotiations to begin, Starbucks Workers United has begun unveiling a set of non-economic proposals to present to corporate, based on input from partners across the country. The proposals aim to improve the day-to-day conditions of Starbucks partners, ranging in topic from hours and scheduling, to benefits and COVID-19 leave, to dress code and handling of sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Despite frustration with corporate, partners at Ansley Mall remain confident in their decision to unionize. “It’s important to form a union as a way to show solidarity with each other and to make sure we’re able to live, and earn decent wages, benefits, and working conditions,” said one partner. “Things are tough right now, but we’re gonna get through it. We’re making a better future for future workers.” 

Partners at Ansley Mall said they encouraged Starbucks workers at other stores to join in the fight to unionize. “Unions give you a chance to stand up for yourself and your rights,” said Nick. “Definitely unionize your workplace.”

Another worker, Amanda, agreed, saying, “You’re not alone, we’re here to support you. There are so many people here that are here to support you. It’s worth the fight.”

To directly support Atlanta Starbucks workers facing retaliation, folks can donates to the workers’ GoFundMe, and another for the Ansley Mall store specifically. Learn more about Atlanta DSA’s campaign support unionizing Starbucks workers at atldsa.org/starbucks. Starbucks workers looking to unionize can also check out https://sbworkersunited.org/

The post Ansley Mall Starbucks Strikes on National Coffee Day appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.

In the early hours of the morning on the 15th of September, the Biden Administration announced that a tentative agreement had been reached by the railroad companies and the railroad unions, delaying a potential nationwide strike. Now, the decision to accept this tentative agreement, or reject it and potentially go on strike rests with the railroad workers themselves. Tonight, we talked to Ross, a locomotive engineer and member of Railroad Workers United, to hear more about what railroad workers really think of this agreement and what may happen next. We also hear from Honda from DSA Labor to learn more about the launch of DSA’s national labor solidarity fund, and how this fund can help aid working class struggle from coast-to-coast. Connect with Railroad Workers United: https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/ DSA National Labor Solidarity Fund: https://laborsolidarity.com/

Vermont Workplace Organizer Training is coming to the Old Socialist Labor Hall in Barre, VT! Join us on October 8th and 9th for a series of four workplace organizing sessions starting at 10am each day. The best thing that any of us can do for the cause of organized labor is to build a militant, worker-driven union in our own workplace. We have seen the successes of the union building in Starbucks locations across the country and we need to keep building on that momentum in every sector.

Check out the sessions that will be offered and find out more here.

Let's go inside the RPM producers' studio. In this episode, Jack and Amy discuss the founding of Revolutions per Minute, our approach to making socialist radio, and what we think other DSA chapters or political groups could learn from our four years of experience in broadcasting. We pay tribute to our comrade Lee Ziesche who is leaving NYC after many years of living and organizing in our community. Listen to Lee's very first appearance on our show and hear us discuss from a producers' angle what she has contributed to our work. 

 

Pitch an idea to Revolutions per Minute: bit.ly/pitch2RPM

Join the RPM collective: bit.ly/RPMJoinForm

We demand that trans and queer kids be protected. We support any teachers and administrators who are working to keep them safe.

We condemn our white nationalist governor and his pattern of straight up racist policies attacking immigrants. As democratic socialists, we recognize that migrants experience the most damning and direct crimes of the neoliberal capitalist system. Militarized borders, xenophobic/racist immigration laws, and an abusive prison industrial complex aim to dehumanize and marginalizes immigrants, functioning to both suppress wages and divide the working class.

We seek to abolish these and any barrier to the social, labor, and political power of migrants through our organized movement.

Donovan Lewis was a son, a brother, a sports fan, and a music-lover. He lived in Columbus surrounded by his family and friends. At 20 years old, his life was stolen from him by Officer Ricky Anderson in the early morning of Tuesday, August 30, 2022. While serving a warrant for his arrest, Anderson opened Mr. Lewis’s bedroom door and immediately fired his weapon, striking Lewis in the abdomen. Officers then handcuffed Donovan and carried him out onto the street. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead soon after.

Columbus DSA rejects the notion that there is any possibility the shooting was justified. Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant defended Anderson’s actions, saying that it appeared Lewis was raising an object in his hand at the moment police opened the door. In truth, a vape pen was the only object found on the bed after the shooting. Despite being a 30 year veteran of the force, Anderson did not hesitate even briefly before killing Donovan, opening fire in a split-second. Anderson had no opportunity to identify a weapon on Lewis’s person, nor did he afford Mr. Lewis an opportunity to surrender before ending the young man’s life. What the people of Columbus have witnessed—and what the released body camera footage demonstrates—is yet another murder in cold blood perpetrated by law enforcement against an unarmed Black person.

The murder of Donovan Lewis comes as the most recent in a series of local police killings of Black people, commonly young and/or unarmed. Columbus remembers the shooting of 16 year old Ma’Khia Bryant by Officer Nicholas Reardon, the murder of 23 year old Casey Goodson Jr. by Deputy Jason Meade, and the assassination of 47 year old Andre Hill by Officer Adam Coy. The Columbus Dispatch recently reported that of the 62 Columbus police shootings since 2018, 19 have been fatal, and of the 19 people killed, 12 have been Black. Time and time again, local law enforcement have demonstrated that they are unencumbered by any concern for Black life.

The Democratic Socialists of America remains an abolitionist organization, as does its Columbus chapter. We view the prison-industrial complex, including law enforcement agencies, as instruments of racial capitalism: the social and economic system governing American life. We believe that racial justice will not be possible until the white supremacist institutions of police and prisons are replaced by life-affirming alternatives. Columbus DSA reaffirms our commitment—shared with our comrades within and without DSA—to free America from the grip of mass incarceration. Together, we will build a society that respects human dignity irrespective of race and refuses to cage people as a solution to social problems. We will achieve food, housing, education, healthcare, and justice for the people of Columbus and beyond.
Justice for Donovan Lewis. Justice for Ma’Khia Bryant. Justice for Andre Hill. Justice for Casey Goodson Jr. Justice for all human beings who police officers have murdered and abused. Defund and abolish the Columbus Police Department

In 1997 nearly 200,000 Teamsters went on strike against UPS. They fought for a better contract and they won. Will the American Labor Movement experience another massive strike at UPS led by the Teamsters in 2023? Matt, a member of the Teamsters, joins us to discuss that and much more.