workers eager to come to the bargaining table. The company has denied delaying bargaining sessions.
After months of this stalling from the company, and after months of researching and developing its demands, the union began making its demands public this week. As firston Friday, in a major bargaining session in Seattle this week, union workers demanded a $20 starting wage across the nation, a guarantee of 37 hours per week for full time employees, fully covered health care for full and part time workers and credit card tipping at every store.
It was the longest bargaining session of the previous roughly 90 sessions that have been held in the past few months, but the company’s lawyers still left the bargaining table before workers were able to present all of their demands. Negotiating these first contracts is a crucial focus of the union, and members say that they’re hopeful their moves now could set a new standard for workers nationwide. “We know that the entire world is watching,” Jasmine Leli, Buffalo barista and member of the union’s national bargaining committee, told. “It’s bigger than, ‘Oh, we want a contract.’ This could change the game for the entire labor movement.