Labor Activitism chat with Jaz Brisack

Host: Dr. John Logan

What can students and recent graduates do to improve their working conditions and those of others?

Join Dr. John Logan, Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies at the Lam Family College of Business, in a virtual fireside chat with labor activist Jaz Brisack, to discuss the efforts to unionize Starbucks and other similar companies and why this matters.

Jaz Brisack

Organizing Director, Workers United Upstate New York

Jaz Brisack was recently named by TIME Magazine as one of its Next Generation Leaders. Her labor activism started during her college years at the University of Mississippi, Jaz worked on the UAW campaign to organize the Nissan factory in Canton, Mississippi, and volunteered as a Pinkhouse Defender at the state’s last abortion clinic. Jaz helped workers organize at SPoT Coffee, a local coffee chain in Buffalo, NY, before going to Oxford, England, on a Rhodes Scholarship. After returning to Buffalo, Jaz spent two years as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks, becoming a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helping organize the first unionized Starbucks in the United States.  As Organizing Director for Workers United Upstate New York, she continues to work on the Starbucks union campaign and other organizing efforts and is currently writing a book on her experiences.

The Lam Family College of Business welcomes persons with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations upon request. If you would like reasonable accommodations for this event, please contact the Center for Ethical & Sustainable Business at cesb@sfsu.edu as soon as possible so your request may be reviewed.