One caramel macchiato, hold the terrorism
Conn Carroll
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If you were hoping you could buy your morning cup of coffee without being sucked into the politics of the Middle East, I have some bad news for you. The union that is trying to sign a contract with Starbucks has other ideas.
When Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing, raping, beheading, and kidnapping as many Israeli civilians as possible, Starbucks Workers United, the Service Employees International Union affiliate that represents over 300 Starbucks locations nationwide, said nothing.
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The murder of Israelis did not merit the notice of Starbucks Workers United. But as soon as the Israel Defense Forces started fighting back, suddenly the individuals running the social media accounts of Starbucks Workers United could not be silenced.
“Solidarity with Palestine!” read one post. “The members of Starbucks Workers United stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” read another. No effort was made to condemn the violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians, nor was any mention made of Israel’s right to exist.
Many Starbucks customers then threatened to boycott Starbucks, which is understandable since an average customer would have no way of knowing that Starbucks the company has no control over what Starbucks the union says, especially since none of the unions have actually signed a collective bargaining agreement with the company.
So Starbucks the company sued Starbucks Workers United in court, demanding they remove “Starbucks” from their name so customers wouldn’t think their coffee supplier supported terrorism. Starbucks Workers United then countersued for defamation, claiming they never supported terrorism, just “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”
Does “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination” include the right to kill Jewish civilians? Starbucks Workers United hasn’t said. But they certainly have not condemned Hamas. One can understand why customers would think the union supports Hamas.
Workers too. Which is exactly what is wrong with the modern labor movement. It has been so taken over by far-left activism that it can’t prioritize its own alleged reason for existing: helping workers get higher wages.
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How does attacking Israel help Starbucks employees get higher wages? It doesn’t. In fact, by politicizing the entire company, it hurts workers by hurting Starbucks.
On so many issues, but especially immigration and the environment, the labor movement long ago sacrificed what was good for workers for what was good for the Democratic Party. And workers have suffered because of it.