On Friday, Starbucks workers started a three-day strike at as many as 100 stores, following a one-day, 110-store walkout last month.
The workers are protesting the closure of some stores that have unionized, as well as Starbucks management’s refusal to negotiate in a timely way, as the company continues to drag its feet on reaching a first contract agreement at any of the more than 250 stores that have unionized so far. While Starbucks has lost a large majority of union representation votes held so far, the refusal to negotiate represents ongoing efforts to break the union. That’s on top of all of the union activists it has fired or disciplined at stores across the country.
“The main reason why we’re taking this action is because of unfair labor practices the company is engaging in that the NLRB is investigating,” Collin Pollitt, a Starbucks worker and organizer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, said. “The most recent are the denial of credit card tipping to union stores, hours cuts and the closing of union stores.”
“They’re doubling down on their union-busting, so we’re doubling down, too,” union activist Michelle Eisen said in a statement. “We’re demanding fair staffing, an end to store closures, and that Starbucks bargain with us in good faith.”
