Natalie Reitz’s Blog

This week, I chose to review “Not going to Starbucks: Boycotts and the out-scouring of politics in the branded world” (2011) by Bryant Simon. In feedback on my potential committee, Simon was recommended as a potential committee member based on his previous writing about unions and Starbucks specifically. Because I am unfamiliar with Simon’s work, I thought this was a good opportunity to familiarize myself with it and see if he would be an appropriate committee addition or interview subject.

In this article, Simon opens by telling the story of Reverend Robert Jeffery, a minister who called for a Starbucks boycott to bring attention to the shooting of Aaron Roberts, a young Black man, by the Seattle Police Department. Reverend Jeffery had tried other methods to bring attention to police brutality and found that his efforts were continuously ignored. Reverend Jeffery chose to target Starbucks, citing that because corporations hold outsized power within the United States government, maybe hurting them would reassert consumer power and force people in power to talk about police brutality (Simon, 2011). Simon’s article focuses on the rise of the boycott as a way to regain political power, as many citizens feel that “conventional electoral politics do not work, and that power lies not exclusively or even predominately with the state any more but increasingly with the corporation” (Simon, 2011). The article outlines the history of the boycott and the implications and limitations of both consumers using purchases to assert political power and corporations choosing to enter the political sphere.

Although the article doesn’t discuss the Starbucks Union specifically, I believe part of the push to unionize is similar to the activists in Simon’s article choosing to boycott Starbucks. Simon writes: “as brands reach deeper into daily life, they have usurped local, regional, and even national political authority,” making change through less traditional channels, such as boycott, seem more expedient and accessible (Simon, 2011). Since historically, unions have also been a path towards better working conditions and higher wages, working to form a union would (at least in theory) be a faster way for workers to gain power than trying to get bills passed that benefit workers. This article is important in understanding the powerlessness many citizens feel in the traditional political sphere, and the unconventional ways they choose to take action, including beginning a union in a space that unions have traditionally not existed.

I’ve been on-call for UHRL for the past two weeks, so I haven’t done much work on my project. I’d like to start reviewing a couple different materials for my project every week so I am well prepared to work on my final project.

Works Cited:

Simon, B. (2011). Not going to Starbucks: Boycotts and the out-scouring of politics in the branded world. Journal of Consumer Culture, 11(2), 145–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540511402448

This week, I decided to watch the documentary “Finally Got the News…” (1970), which is a documentary about League of Revolutionary Black Workers, an organization of Black auto workers in Detroit, MI. I was initially interested in watching this not only because of how it relates to my topic, unions, but because it also takes place in Southeast Michigan, where I grew up. It also addresses the need for intersectionality in labor movements, which Mitch touched upon in his comment on my blog post last week.

The film opens with a montage that follows the history of Black labor in the United States up until approximately when the film was made, from enslavement to 1970’s working conditions in Detroit-area auto factories. The film does a good job of tying Black Marxist thought into the conditions faced by Black auto workers in Detroit, by speaking about the power blue-collar Black workers held within the existing system even if they didn’t hold white-collar positions (Kelley 2021). The film follows the formation of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, a group of Black workers who identified that neither the corporations they worked for nor the UAW (United Auto Workers) were looking out for their best interests. The League of Revolutionary Black Workers sought to address Black auto worker’s grievances within their factories and to build an “independent Black labor organization” (Bird et al., 1970). It was strong because they interviewed people on the front lines, including workers and the candidate they endorsed to become a UAW trustee. This film also contextualizes the current League of Revolutionary Black Workers labor struggles alongside historic Black labor struggles. I would like to contextualize Starbucks barista struggles alongside the formation of the food service industry to contextualize the working conditions workers face and to address why there haven’t historically been unions for food service workers.

To achieve the creation of my film, I’ll need someone to run a camera and audio to film me asking my interview questions. I’m planning on drawing upon my previous production experience to film this documentary-I have made a few shorter pieces and have helped with the production of others work. I will also need to research foodworker and union history and ideally find an interviewee who can contextualize the two. Part of the reason I want to interview Starbucks workers in Philadelphia because it is both local and national-other workers elsewhere can connect their struggles. I also want to interview Starbucks workers because they are still attempting to organize other stores, but some of them have gone public and those who have gone public are more likely to appear on camera. There is a very real fear of union busting and workers are rightfully afraid of losing their jobs, which is something I experienced when I tried to unionize at a former job.

Finally, although I attended part of the session last Tuesday, I was on-call and had to deal with an emergency, so I would want to know logistical questions including how often committee members want to meet. I also am interested in working with people who have some knowledge and interest in organizing. Finally, I would want to have at least one person on my committee who is technically knowledgable to ensure I make a good film.

Works Cited:

Bird, S., Lichtman, R., Gessner, P. (directors). (1970). Finally got the news…[film].

Kelley, R. D. G. (2021). Why Black Marxism? Why now? Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/why-black-marxism-why-now/#:~:text=Black%20Marxism%20was%20primarily%20about,historical%20consciousness%20embedded%20in%20culture.

For my project, I’m interested in doing a documentary or something similar telling the story of how Philadelphia Starbucks baristas unionized. This is close to my heart for a few reasons. I spent a lot of my twenties as a barista and have seen firsthand how little protections are given to service workers. I spent my entire time working in the service industry wishing the working conditions were better. I also have participated in an attempt to unionize a workplace and am familiar with some of the challenges that go along with unionization efforts. On a macro level, alongside the barista organization efforts, we’ve seen The Great Resignation of 2022, where many workers quit their jobs in hopes of finding better work. Historically working conditions for service workers, especially workers with marginalized identities, have been very poor and they have not gotten the same benefits as workers who are able to unionize. Finally, I see a lot of apathy around solving the world’s problems-for some, they are just too large. I want to show people unionizing because if people can imagine themselves unionizing with their co-workers, I believe they will be more empowered to fight for their rights at work. Finally, since many of the Starbucks workers in the unionization effort are Gen Z and many will become labor leaders as they age, I think it’s important to show support for future generations activism efforts.

As of now, the project that is most similar to what I want to produce is Rebecca Sebring’s (2023) documentary “Navigating Inequality From The Sidelines.” Sebring interviewed five women who work in sports reporting about the sexism they’ve navigated within the workplace. Sebring does a good job contextualizing the history of sports reporting, which is important in understanding why sexism runs so rampant within sports reporting. Sebring also does a good job of exemplifying when female sports reporters experience sexism and racism when trying to cover their stories. An important aspect of my story I want to cover is challenges faced by workers attempting to organize if they have marginalized identities (e.g. racism, sexism, etc) and barriers to organization. Sebring also does a good job using archival footage to bolster her interviews, and I also plan on using archival footage to tell the Starbucks story.

I want to interview Starbucks labor organizers located in Philadelphia and possibly a labor historian or labor reporter to provide context to why mass service workers organizing is so monumental. I have begun making connections with members of the organizing committee in Philadelphia and am considering my options for who I may interview as an expert on labor.

Sebring, R. (Director). (2023). Navigating inequality from the sidelines: an MA project documentary [film]. Temple University.