opened with her recurring reminder that “no one is illegal on stolen land that was built by stolen labor” and a visit from Doug the Pug, fomenting Starbucks baristas set the stage for last night’s Metro Council meeting.
“Starbucks doesn't want to actually meet their workers,” said a local Starbucks employee during last night’s announcement period. “They want Nashville's culture, they want our labor, they want our growth, our tourism, and our tax breaks. And while executives pose for cameras, baristas are being pushed harder than ever before; workers are dealing with impossible drive-thru times, severe understaffing, increasingly complicated drink builds, and now disciplinary threats over not writing one word on a cup.”
Yesterday, twenty council members signed onto a letter delivered by Councilmember Sean Parker to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol requesting the company “finalize a fair union contract” before settling down in Nashville.
“We are proud to foster a pro-business climate in our city and state,” reads the document. “At the same time, we must be clear that being pro-business or lower-cost than other locations is not an invitation to take advantage of our residents, pay unlivable wages, or interfere with workers’ legal right to organize.”
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| Ginny Welsch |
“Many have observed that we in the South have inherited from our centuries of slavery a culture that punishes whoever acknowledges harm, usually far more harshly than those who inflict it,” said one speaker. “We have not overcome that inheritance yet, but we're working on it.”
“For the God who listens, thank you for hearing us,” said another guest. “I've seen you weep when skyscrapers and cameras and weapons and police budgets and business districts and Super Bowls and wealth accumulation are considered the pinnacles of human achievement.”
Vice Mayor Angie Henderson poured on the drama when reminding the body that the invocation does not have to be a religious prayer.
“And even though it has most frequently been a Christian prayer in this chamber, it does also bear reminding, after the events on the National Mall on Sunday and as our country celebrates its 250th year, that we are not, and we've never been a 'Christian nation,'” said Henderson. “Though many people in state and federal leadership and the social media managers that support them are trying to make people believe that to be true.”
The council proceeded and took a few shots at the state. Though members denounced a new law that strips Metro of its majority appointment power over the Airport Authority—calling it a “hostile takeover”—with no discussion, they did discuss the new congressional map before denouncing it as well.
“These maps were not drawn to reflect the people; they were drawn to control the people,” said Councilmember Zulfat Suara. “They were drawn because the protections that once prevented racial gerrymandering have been stripped away by the very court entrusted to uphold them.”
The council also passed a resolution asking NES to reassess its new tree-trimming practices but decided to defer the resolution denouncing the performance and leadership of the Electric Power Board once again.
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