Chicago sees rise in union organizing

Two union organizers, a music teacher and a barista, share their stories.

By Char Daston
Starbucks union
Starbucks employees and supporters react as votes are read during a viewing of their union election on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Buffalo, N.Y. Starbucks workers there voted to unionize over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new labor model for the 50-year old coffee giant and highlighting a growing movement for labor organizing in the U.S. Associated Press
Starbucks union
Starbucks employees and supporters react as votes are read during a viewing of their union election on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Buffalo, N.Y. Starbucks workers there voted to unionize over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new labor model for the 50-year old coffee giant and highlighting a growing movement for labor organizing in the U.S. Associated Press

Chicago sees rise in union organizing

Two union organizers, a music teacher and a barista, share their stories.

By Char Daston
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Chicago is seeing a wave of union organizing and worker activism as part of a growing national trend. Over the past year, baristas at a Starbucks in the Loop petitioned for a union and teachers at the Old Town School of Folk Music reached a new deal on a tentative five-year contract.

Reset learns the details from lead union organizers.

GUESTS: Brick Zurek, shift supervisor at a Starbucks in Chicago’s Loop; organizer with Workers United

Chris Walz, teacher at Old Town School of Folk Music; former co-president of Old Town Teachers Organization