El Cafecito del Día

No Contract, No Coffee! A Conversation with Starbucks Union Leaders

Hear from Sam Amato and Christian Miranda, two Starbucks union leaders, about their fight for better wages and living conditions. Sam worked at Starbucks for 13 years before he was fired in retaliation for his union leadership. After watching management fire him in the cafe, Sam's coworkers immediately walked out on strike. Christian's leadership led to the second Starbucks union win in Miami Springs, Florida.

Women in the Trades: Resilience, Sisterhood & Mentorship

In 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Latinos made up 9% of all union members - and that there were roughly 1 million fewer women in the movement when compared to their male counterparts. It is clear that Latinas are under-represented in these spaces. Hear the stories of two Latina leaders in the trades, Liliana Calderon and Cristina Barillas-McEntee, as they share their stories of resilience, sisterhood and mentorship.

The Fight for Housing Justice in Virginia: A Conversation with Tenants and Workers United

Housing costs have continued to rise across the United States. In this cafecito, we focus on Northern Virginia’s housing issues with Evelin Urrutia, Executive Director of Tenants and Workers United. We discuss their work, the current local housing policies in place, and what housing justice would mean for our Latino working class communities.

Women in the Labor Movement: Alejandra Morales Reynoso

In this cafecito, we discuss the historic independent union win that happened this past February in Silao Guanajuato, Mexico. 6400 workers at a General Motors plant voted to be represented by SINTTIA, an Independent Union of Auto Industry Workers. This episode includes an interview with the organizations’ secretary general, Alejandra Morales Reynoso. Our conversation was conducted in her native language, Spanish – but at the end, I provide a summary of our conversation in English. The collective sheds light on previous leadership and how their failure led to the historic nomination of a new union representative, SINITTA.

Undocumented and Unaided: Barriers in Higher Education

Pursuing a higher education is often not attainable for everyone. Finances and documentation status often plays a large role, so we beg the question: what programs exist to help students aid their studies? This week we sat down with Nardi Velasquez and Ethan Mercado, the co-community outreach coordinators for UndocuMason. This student-led organization aims to create a more inclusive environment for undocumented immigrants through education and advocacy.

#NiUnRepartidorMenos

The episode includes an interview with Saul Gomez, member of the Mexico-City based collective for Rideshare Food Delivery Drivers, #NiUnReparditorMenos. Our conversation was conducted in his native language, Spanish -- but at the end, I provide a summary of our conversation in English. The collective was created after Jose Manuel Matias, a rideshare food delivery driver, was run over by a truck while on the job. The collective, created 4 years ago, has been working towards better working conditions and protections for rideshare workers. 

All About PRIDE!

LGBTQ+ Rights seem to be taking a step backwards in recent years. What does Labor have to do to ensure that all LGBTQ+ people are supported? Our inaugural episode includes a conversation with Jerame Davis, Executive Director of Pride at Work and a discussion of what the labor movement can and should do to support LGBTQ+ people in the workforce - especially this pride month.