Seattle’s Leaders are Notably Absent from Nationwide Boycott of Starbucks Over Labor Abuses

After years of organizing and prolonged contract negotiations over better working conditions, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) union members announced a nationwide boycott campaign in late August calling on allies to force the fast food company to the negotiating table. Starbucks workers rallied at 40 college campuses nationwide yesterday, including the University of Washington, calling on administrators to put ties with the coffee chain over its labor abuses. Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck spoke at the UW rally in support of the boycott and urged the university to kick Starbucks off campus. Politicians across the country are joining the boycott, including seven sitting congressmen and six new ones, as well as two US senators (none of these are local) and city councils across the country. Several state-level Democratic parties, including Washington’s, are part of the boycott, according to a recent count.

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