Workers at the 88 E. Broad St. Starbucks store will be striking Thursday, November 17 from 5 am until 5 pm in solidarity with their fellow workers across the country.
They join a total of over 100 stores taking part in the Red Cup Rebellion, a nationwide Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike demanding Starbucks fully staff all union stores and begin bargaining in good faith.
According to LaborNotes.org, a ULP strike is different than an economic strike, which seeks higher wages, because a “union hits the bricks to protest an employer violation of the National Labor Relations Act.” And under National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) law, a ULP offers greater protections than an economic strike because “an employer can never permanently replace workers striking to protest an unfair labor practice.”
Red Cup Rebellion takes place the same day as the corporation’s Red Cup Day, on which thousands of Starbucks locations across the country will offer customers a branded Starbucks cup with select purchases.
Striking workers will be picketing outside of their stores and handing out Starbucks Workers United branded cups to customers instead. Starbucks workers are the face and cornerstone of the Company, yet they are forced into running perpetually understaffed stores, and given inconsistent schedules they can’t rely on.
Conditions like these are what led Starbucks workers nationwide to begin unionizing, and the Company has only responded with disdain and disregard for its employees.
Now, Starbucks workers are demanding the Company meet them at the bargaining table to create improved standards in staffing and scheduling, along with a host of other bargaining proposals that have been crafted by partner leaders across the country.
The Starbucks workers at 88 E. Broad St. offered the following statement:
“Starbucks continues to punish union stores by denying adequate labor and appropriate training that would enhance the customer experience. These retaliatory actions go directly against Starbucks’s own values and mission statement that are based on treating all people with respect and dignity, as well as holding themselves to transparency and accountability.”
Starbucks Workers United represents over 250 locations accounting for nearly 7,000 workers in the country.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued 39 official complaints against Starbucks, encompassing over 900 alleged violations of federal labor law.
WHAT: Unfair Labor Practice Strike WHEN: 5:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, November 17th, 2022 WHERE: 88 E Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio WHO: Starbucks Workers United
