Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders back striking Starbucks workers as city approves $39M settlement

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, and Senator Bernie Sanders joined striking Starbucks workers, expressing their solidarity with the protestors demanding better pay, staffing, and working conditions.

Their show of solidarity came just as the city approved a million-dollar deal for workers who were denied a stable schedule in recent years.

Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders join Starbucks protest

Socialists Mamdani and Sanders on Monday, December 1, joined striking Starbucks workers in Brooklyn, hours after outgoing Hizzoner Eric Adams unveiled a $39 million settlement for baristas’ lost wages.

Speaking from the picket line outside a Gowanus Starbucks, Mamdani tied the coffee chain union’s wider strike to his campaign’s and the incoming City Hall’s focus on affordability and elevating the lives of downtrodden workers. 

“Because all of us are united in the belief that we must build in New York where every worker can live a life of decency,” he said. “We must build a New York where our words do not ring hollow. 

“As we say that this is a union town, and we must build a New York where the workers who power it are able to afford to live in it.”

Mamdani and Sanders slammed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who was awarded $96 million in pay after just four months on the job, while many of his workers live paycheck to paycheck.

“We are living in an economy where the people on top have never, ever had it so good,” Sanders said.

NYC approves settlement for Starbucks workers

The socialists joined the protest as Adams announced the city struck a record-breaking worker protection settlement for 15,000 Starbucks employees who were illegally denied predictable schedules.

Those workers will be given $50 for each week worked from July 4, 2021, to July 7, 2024, as per the settlement.

“With this landmark settlement, we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity,” Adams said in a statement. 

Strike continues as union pushes for better pay and staffing

But the new deal covers only past violations in the city, not the ongoing demands from the union for higher wages, better staffing, and improved working hours. The strike affects more than 100 stores in nearly as many cities.

“Within the stores, you can see the effects of understaffing and low hours for people,” said Kaari Harsila, a strike captain for the Starbucks Workers United union.

“Once they come back to the table, and once they come back to the table to finalize the contract, we will be ready to be done.”