| CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Working Joes Starbucks employees at Mockingbird Station, Addison and Denton seek to unionize. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS bucks at Mockingbird Station in Dallas sub- mitted a letter to President and CEO Howard Schultz earlier this week. In their letter, the baristas write that the S company has forgotten that Starbucks was built for and by people, adding, “We find it difficult to represent this company every day at work when we do not have the re- sources and labor to meet demands, nor the wages to meet our own basic needs as hu- man beings.” Workers at the Starbucks at 5000 Belt Line Road in Addison have also submitted a letter and plan to vote to unionize. Nikita Russell, 32, has worked at Star- bucks at Mockingbird Station for almost two years. Her name appears first on the letter to Schultz. “Someone very important to me told me that the word ‘partner’ is a promise,” Russell says. “And just like love, it requires action. We are doing this because this is what taking care of each other looks like.” A Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, was the first to vote and unionize in December 2021. According to Reuters, more than 170 cafes have requested a union election as of April 2022. Starbucks Workers United re- ports that as of May 20, 80 other stores have unionized successfully. In their letter to Schultz, the Dallas baris- tas noted, “... it is difficult for us to come to work every day as we see the mental and physical health of our partners deteriorate as demands rise and support plummets.” We recently reported on complicated TikTok-inspired drink orders. Starbucks barista McKenna Ferrel told the Observer baristas’ performance reviews are based on how long it takes them to make a drink and the number of customers per half-hour served, and those drinks are time-consum- ing. “Most of the time I don’t care at all, I think it’s fun as long as everybody stays un- derstanding of inventory limitations and barista capacity.” A Starbucks cafe in Denton at Rayzor Ranch is working on unionizing and has al- ready submitted a letter to the National La- bor Relations Board. In their letter to tarbucks cafes around the na- tion are beginning to unionize. Now several North Texas stores are joining in. Nine employees at the Star- courtesy Fizz Schultz, they cited a requirement to work a minimum of 20 hours every week to qualify for ASU, a company-sponsored college achievement plan, and to keep their health benefits. However, they struggle to get those required hours each week. Their effort to unionize is, in part, to ensure those benefits. “It is difficult for us to reconcile being a part of such a successful company experi- encing record profits with the struggle and suffering of the people we spend so much of our lives with at work each day,” Russell told the Observer via email. “Several of these in- volve labor cuts, lack of support, the re- sources to do our jobs and wages that do not reflect the cost of living.” For the second quarter of 2022, Starbucks reported a 17% spike in revenue for stores in North America. Net revenues for the com- pany overall were up 15% to $7.6 billion. In May, Schultz announced the company is raising hourly pay, the fourth increase in 18 months, as part of a $1 billion commit- ment from the company to invest in employ- ees and in a bid to stymie the wave of unionizing stores. That puts the hourly starting rate at $15 an hour; then come Au- gust 1, it will rise to $17 an hour. There are other incentives as well, like fixing the of- ten-broken ice machines. But these increases in wages do not apply to unionized stores. Labor attorney Magda- len Bickford previously explained to Na- tion’s Restaurant News, “You cannot change the terms and conditions of employment for anything good, bad or indifferent unless you bargain with the union.” Russell says they have filed their petition and will now wait to get an election date set, at which point the baristas for that store will vote on unionization. ▼ FIRST LOOK DAY-DRINKERS REJOICE L PLANO GETS AN ALL DAY BAR WITH EVERYTHING FROM COFFEE TO CHAMPAGNE AND FOUNTAINS OF CARAMEL. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS ongtime local nightclub veteran Jeff Murtha, whose previous concepts in- clude Studio 80 in Fort Worth and The Clubhouse in the early 2000s, is open- Fizz serves coffee in the A.M. and mixed drinks in the P.M. ing a new high-end lounge in Plano. We’re just not sure if Plano is ready for this Murtha concept. Fizz is an all-day bar and restaurant that serves coffee starting at 7 a.m. and shifts into a lounge with drinks and music later in the day. According to a press release, Fizz, which is scheduled to open May 27, has two full- service bars, one that wraps around a 3,500-square-foot interior and another around the 1,200-square-foot all-weather patio, which has a retractable roof for when the weather behaves. Fizz is big on the bubbles. From the press release, the Champagne list is “the most ex- tensive” in DFW. They’ll have more than 50 sparkling wines, including 20 Champagnes. If bubbles make your face hot, no worries, the 100+ wine list has been curated by the sommelier and general manager, Anthony Martinez. The bar’s craft cocktail menu will change seasonally and offer some twists on classic drinks as well as Fizz originals, like the Na- ked and Famous made with mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime juice. The Moth 2 a Flame is an Old-Fashioned infused with cold smoke. The food menu is anchored in build- your-own charcuterie boards; customers choose meats and cheese imported from around the world, which are served with different dressings, spreads, jams, crackers, breads and olives. They’ll also have fruit and vegetable boards and Siberian Osetre Baerii caviar for $110. There are also a few salads and a few pro- tein mains (chicken, steak and fresh fish of the day). Last but certainly not least, save room for one of the four fondues available for $25 each: savory, spicy, chocolate or caramel. As for brunch, yes, they brunch, with party brunches and live entertainment 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. They also have live entertainment each night from 6 to 9 p.m. that “may include sax- ophones, violins and harpists.” Fizz, 3310 Dallas Parkway, Suite 115. Grand opening is set for May 27. 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