Vernon Starbucks workers, union officials, elected officials celebrate captive audience law

Jul. 2—VERNON — In the wake of recent state legislation banning employers from conducting captive audience meetings taking effect on Friday, both union and elected officials as well as Starbucks workers celebrated the bill on its first day being enforced.

The bill protects private sector workers from such meetings, which employers often hold to convey opinions about joining unions and require employees to attend. The bill also protects employees against being penalized for exercising their First Amendment rights.

At a press conference held in front of the Vernon Starbucks at 135 Talcottville Road on Friday, employees of the location spoke out against such captive audience meetings.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS

WHAT: Workers, unions, and elected officials celebrated the recently passed state law banning captive audience meetings held by employers on Friday.

WHERE: A press conference was held at the Vernon Starbucks on Talcottville Road, where workers recently announced their intent to unionize.

LAW: The state law became effective on Friday, July 1.

The location was apt for the event, as workers at the Vernon Starbucks announced their intent to unionize in May, and are planning to hold an election to vote on the matter on July 14.

"Frankly, we are tired of the intimidation and the lies against our unionizing efforts. Lies that have unfolded during our captive audience meetings, which many of us were forced to endure under fear of discipline," said Salwa Mogaddedi, who has worked at the Vernon Starbucks location for six years.

Mogaddedi added that Starbucks management often pulled employees off the floor during busy times to tell them that they "don't need a union to fight for better changes."

She also said that these meetings often targeted fears that some of her coworkers had about unionizing.

Ashley Amsden, another employee of the location, also spoke out against such forced meetings.

"Management should not expect their store to run smoothly when they're trying to turn people against each other, or by taking people off the floor when it's busy to intimidate them," Amsden said. She added that she never felt pressured by her coworkers when she was asked to make a decision to vote to unionize.

"When the union decision was brought to my attention...I was never pressured by anybody to make a vote one way or another. So how come now, so many are being pressured to vote the other way?" Amsden said.

"In the wake of our union election, this bill couldn't have come at a better time," Mogaddedi said.

Ed Hawthorne, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, the state's largest labor organization, also condemned captive audience meetings.

Hawthorne said that during such meetings held by the location, employees were "threatened, harassed and just made to feel very uncomfortable about what should be a private thing."

"What this bill does is it makes it so they don't have to go to [captive audience meetings] anymore. They can use their voice by respectfully standing up and saying that they don't wish to participate in that meeting and simply go back to work," Hawthorne added.

Elected officials who contributed to getting the bill signed into law also spoke at Friday's event.

"For me, this is simple. Workers like Salwa and Ashley should be able to organize, they should be able to talk to one another, they should be able to act collectively for their benefit," said Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, who serves as co-chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Winfield has been working towards such a bill since 2011, he said.

Winfield also expressed confidence in the bill withstanding any legal scrutiny.

"I think we're on solid ground," he said.

Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, agreed with Winfield, saying that the state's attorney general has "certified the fact that this is a law that will stand against any scrutiny or attempt to overturn."

Kushner added that it is not just a law to protect the rights of unions, but also to protect any kind of political speech.

Rep. Mike Winkler, D-Vernon, called the Starbucks's effort to unionize "historic."

"It's historic, and it's a beacon, and it's going to be written up in the history books."

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said on Friday that more private sector workers in the state should consider unionizing.

"One of the problems we have had nationally and in Connecticut over the years is the declining number of people in unions in the private sector," Looney said, adding that private sector unions need to "reclaim the ground that they once had years ago."

Looney, who has been advocating for a law banning captive audience meetings since 2005, praised the bill's accomplishments.

"The idea of getting people into a room and frightening them, and intimidating them, and making them fear for themselves and their families...thank God that will no longer be possible in Connecticut," Looney said.

Ben covers Vernon and Stafford for the Journal Inquirer.