About
In the face of America’s increasingly powerful corporate class, young Starbucks employees have set in motion a unionization campaign that has swept the nation. This underdog story follows the queer and trans workers behind the union as they navigate victories and defeats, and in the process, breathe life into the labor movement.
The title of the film comes from a chair that is set aside in every Starbucks board meeting to "represent" all the retail workers at the company. The chair is left empty and when workers ask for an actual seat at the table, they are denied. Starbucks' respect for the voices of workers is surface deep and purely symbolic.
"We're putting down you know, blood, sweat and tears for future generations... we'll be able to leave an impact on them the same way that those older unionists were able to pave this path for us."
-- Beto Sanchez, SBWU Organizer
The Empty Chair has been completed and is currently on a film festival run.
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