Remember Retail Workers on Labor Day

Today is Labor Day in the United States (of course the authentic workers’ holiday is May 1). What does “Labor” mean though to most Americans? Perhaps images of factory workers, construction workers, or even teachers and nurses come to mind. Indeed, workers in these occupations and others traditionally associated with organized labor will be out in force at marches, rallies, and those ubiquitous Labor Day picnics.

However, a whole new set of workers has begun to organize to rise out of poverty, gain access to health care, and make their workplaces safe. Even though most people would never associate this group of working people with organized labor, many unionists believe that as jobs are outsourced en masse, these workers may represent the final hope of reviving the labor movement in the United States. They are the working people we interact with every day of the week and many of them are employed by the most well-known brands in the world.

As you may have guessed, I’m referring to the retail workers of this country. You know them: the “associates” at Wal-Mart, the “team members” at Kinko’s, and the “partners” at Starbucks (which is where I work), just to name a few. The corporations we work for don’t like us speaking out about our jobs. But consumers have a right to know the harsh reality for those of us smiling at you from behind the counter and how our employment conditions affect the nation as a whole.

The overwhelming majority of the millions of retail workers in this country—including myself—earn wages that leave us well below the poverty line. Even if health care is offered, it’s often unaffordable. Respect and dignity are frequently nonexistent in retail settings where abusive managers, widespread surveillance, and arbitrary disciplinary policies are the norm. The work can even be harmful to one’s health. For example, based on anecdotal evidence garnered from conversations with Starbucks workers around the country, it appears that repetitive strain injuries are systemic and widespread at the company. No surprise, when one considers the number of repeated motions involved in shooting espresso, steaming milk, and serving beverages by the hundreds at lightning speeds. To make matters worse, under the law almost every retail worker is an at-will employee, meaning we can be fired with no advance notice at any time for almost any reason. Some of us even need foodstamps to survive and show up at work.

The exciting news is that more and more retail workers are forming unions as a solution to the exploitative employment conditions we endure. Booksellers at Borders recently scored a major victory when they successfully formed a union at the company’s flagship store, winning improvements in wages and working conditions. At the Starbucks where I work in New York City, a union drive conducted with the Retail Workers Union of the Industrial Workers of the World has sparked a national campaign to organize the chain. Unfortunately, Starbucks, a company that pays so much lip service to respecting employees, is engaging in a strenuous campaign to crush our union. This is the typical response of multinational corporations when workers attempt to exercise their right of free association and the American people must not stand for it.

Years ago miners and garment workers and loggers struggled for the dignity of labor securing many of the rights we enjoy today. So on this Labor Day keep your supermarket cashier, you video store clerk, and your barista in mind as they join in to make history all over again.


Daniel Gross is an organizer with the Retail Workers Union of the IWW and a Starbucks barista