They’re venti mad.
Socialist superstars Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday 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 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.”
The show of solidarity came as Adams announced the city struck a record-breaking worker protection settlement for 15,000 Starbucks employees who were illegally denied predictable schedules.
The settlement will give those workers $50 for each week worked from July 4, 2021 to July 7, 2024.
“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.
But the settlement only covers past violations in New York 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, 21, 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.”
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was awarded $96 million in pay after just four months on the job, while many of his workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, Mamdani and Sanders seethed.
“We are living in an economy where the people on top have never, ever had it so good,” Sanders said.
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