Starbucks workers at the Eastlake location have had about enough.
Starbucks workers at the Eastlake location have had about enough. Conor Kelley

It’s an extra spicy week, folks, so please make sure the Tums are close. Get the milk!

Seattle Starbucks workers on strike! As Hannah mentioned, this morning workers at two Starbucks locations in Seattle went on strike to protest what they view as unfair labor practices. Organizers say the Eastlake store will strike on Friday from 6 am to 3 pm, and the 5th and Pike store will strike for at least three days starting this morning at 7. The 5th and Pike store picket will continue Saturday and Sunday starting at 9 am.

You can support the strike by joining the picket line: RSVP here for the 5th and Pike store and here for Eastlake. Starbucks workers are also holding an event tomorrow at Cal Anderson Park, where they will organize a citywide plastering of 500 pro-union posters. RSVP here to join the postering plastering.

Marysville Starbucks walkout: This news comes after workers at a Marysville store hosted a walkout on Monday, per KIRO. And after the National Labor Review Board sued Starbucks. And after Starbucks got caught posting fake tweets at one of its stores. What a week, huh Howie?!

The kids are at it again: Starbucks posted a job listing for a “Director of Corporate Labor Council” (read: Head Union-Buster), so this week the heroes at Gen Z for Change flooded another one of their listings with fake apps. 40,000 this time. Bless ‘em.

New Amazon CEO gives a wild interview: This week, Andy Jassy gave a performance that reminded some of a certain past president. In a post-truth interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Jassy claimed workers were better off not joining unions. Oh! Then he said the statistics reported by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Amazon’s dangerous working conditions were not to be trusted, as they were collected by “special interests.” Double oh! OSHA reported that Amazon’s injury rate went up 20% in 2021, and their workers accounted for 49% of all warehouse injuries in the country.

Teamsters prez Sean O’Brien quickly responded:

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LGBTQ+ concerns at Amazon: Yesterday, In These Times reported that Amazon workers believe the company isn’t nearly the LGBTQ+ ally it claims to be. The company has received a “perfect score” from the Human Rights Campaign for five years straight, but many are pointing out that Amazon is a “platinum partner” donor to the organization, and so that score isn’t exactly impartial.

Straight from math class to the warehouse: Possibly tired of all these rabble-rousing adults, Amazon is expanding its efforts to hire high schoolers. The Information has more.

People demand pro-union politicians: Republican Nicole Malliotakis, New York’s 11th District Congresswoman, is under fire for not even giving one shit about the historic Amazon Staten Island warehouse win that took place in her own district. “Great! They had a vote ― good for them,” she said. THEY HAD A VOTE, SHE SAYS! HuffPost reports that Democrats are already eyeing her seat for this November’s midterms, and this will likely be a huge issue for her pro-labor constituents.

Colleagues think top Dem Senator should retire: Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 88-year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein is exhibiting some serious symptoms of cognitive decline. The article starts off—starts off!—with Feinstein forgetting colleagues’ names multiple times in the same conversation. She is reportedly worth nearly $88 million, has been in office 30 years now, and these reports are not new. I mean, she was born in 1933. At some point, you just gotta get out of the way.

Paying to file your taxes is B.S.: While we’re talking about things that should change in Congress, here we are in Two Thousand Twenty Two and still for some reason paying companies such as TurboTax to tell our government how much we owe them. We spend $31 billion a year on the butt-end of this scam! Luckily, many fine outlets such as Teen Vogue are reminding people this time of year that tax companies lobby (some would say “bribe”) our dignified public servants to make it this way. Hear it from Liz:

Speaking of taxes: The folks who don’t pay ‘em are having a great time flaunting their wealth. As Vanity Fair reported late last week, there appears to be a real lack of remorse among the ultra-wealthy. Anybody got a tomato? Some eggs? (Relax, I’m just making shakshuka.)

Student workers unite: In direct action news, student workers around the country are organizing for better pay and protections. Interested? Here’s an event to check out next Thursday.

Concrete workers return: After months of negotiations, local striking concrete workers announced last Friday they would be returning to work even as they continue waiting for management to offer them a fair contract. A gracious move, yet KIRO reports the 300+ workers haven’t even been called back to work yet by Cadman, Stoneway, or Merlino Construction. What’s the deal? What more could they want? Perhaps they need to hear from our wonderful readers.

Cadman: (425) 867-1234
Stoneway: (425) 226-1000
Merlino Construction: (206) 762-9125

Claims of racism at Tesla: In case you wanted to get even more riled up, More Perfect interviewed Tesla workers who detailed horrible conditions they have to put up with at the factories owned by the diamond mine heir who did not come up with the idea for Tesla.

Less work, more life: Okay, let’s cool off. In These Times reported some companies are shortening the work day. That is a good thing.

Wage transparency on the way: Starting next year, you won’t have to waste your time applying for jobs without knowing what they’d pay you. That is also a good thing. Crosscut has more.

Speaking of jobs, More Perfect Union is hiring again:

Verizon workers announce union vote results: Come out and show your support for workers at the Everett and Lynnwood Verizon stores as they throw a joint tailgate to count ‘em up and (hopefully) get the party started. Festivities begin today at 1 pm at 1405 SE Everett Mall Way (strip mall parking lot of Everett Verizon Wireless store).

A whole bunch more NLRB filings: This week, workers at Starbucks stores in Marysville and Portland pushed the More Perfect Union tracker to 225. Meanwhile, folks at Larusso Concrete here in Seattle filed on Tuesday, six more workers at Providence in Everett are looking to join their bargaining unit, and a whopping 213 people at Marathon Petroleum in Anacortes joined the fight as well.

Big can man gets it: Here’s a refreshing sip to cool you off. The Los Angeles Times sat down with the owner of AriZona iced tea, famous for its iconic giant cans with the 99¢ emblem on the side. The newspaper asked him, basically, why he isn’t raising prices and gouging the American people like other companies. He said, basically, because that sucks. A king. Apparently one with a good social media team, too:

Okay folks, now we are simply out of spicy meatballs. Please send your tips here, and enjoy this jam that most people remember from The Warriors but that I first heard on the adult cartoon Rick & Morty. Have a great weekend.