On Thursday March 24, Democratic nominee for TX-35 Greg Casar and a number of local officials visited the campus-area Starbucks on W. 24th Street – the third location in Texas to join the nationwide unionization effort – to express their support. “You can count on me come January 2022 to put my name on the PRO [Protecting the Right to Organize] Act,” Casar said, “to make sure we put workers before profit.” He was joined by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, Mayor Steve Adler, State Rep. Vicki Goodwin (next to Casar in the photo), and Council Members Vanessa Fuentes and Kathie Tovo, among others. A Starbucks worker/organizer spoke last: “We are here today because of what Buffalo [N.Y.] got started … one of the most exciting labor movements in the last several decades. I’m grateful to you all for standing together with us, and giving us what we’re trying to achieve in our workplace, which is a voice.” The crowd then ordered coffees under the moniker “Union Strong.”
* Editor’s note Thursday 3-31 10:58 am: This story has been updated to correct that it is Vikki Goodwin, not Ann Kitchen, standing beside Greg Casar. We regret our errors.
This article appears in April 1 • 2022.