Come to the Solidarity Sip-In at the Starbucks in downtown Salt Lake City

Utah elected officials opposition to even the smallest steps to protect working people could not be more clear.  For years members of FACE Hunger and Homelessness have shown up to support bills to raise the minimum wage  in our state only to watch those bills lose in lop sided and dispiriting ways.  

​Fortunately, some working people in our state have begun to organize themselves to demand better wages and working conditions.  Last week the workers at a Starbucks in Bountiful became the third in Utah to state their intention of forming union under the banner of Starbucks Workers United.    We have invited representatives from Starbucks Workers United attend our monthly meeting on May 10 at noon at South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society to learn more about how we can support the organizing efforts of service sector workers in our state.  

​However, we are not waiting until that meeting to begin showing our support.  On May 3, 2023, at 10 AM we are encouraging everyone who supports higher wages and better working conditions for service sector workers to stop by the Starbucks located at 421 East 400 South in Salt Lake City, buy a beverage, and tell the workers you support them.  We are calling this event a "Solidarity Sip In."

Here are are a few statements from faith leaders explaining why they will be participating:

• Rev, AJ Bush notes, ""First United Methodist Church is just a couple blocks from one of the Starbucks that has voted to unionize and we want the brave people who work there to know our community supports them."
• "It is especially important to support people working for better wages and working conditions in a state like Utah-- which is one of 19 state where the minimum wage is still stuck at $7.25 per hour," says Rev. David Nichols of Mt. Tabor Lutheran Church.
• "Families are struggling with inflation and rent increases that have grown faster than inflation and so it is important to show up and support low wage workers when they demand better treatment," says Rev. Lora Young of South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society.
• “I like my coffee black and my barista union,"  says Rev. Dr. Curtis Price of First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City.