Members of the Starbucks Workers Association are hoping to win over customers who may not be excited about the strike by offering an even more exclusive memorabilia: A red corporate mug Design union with Starbucks Workers Association logo on the front.
Starbucks Workers Association
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Starbucks Workers Association
Members of the Starbucks Workers Association are hoping to win over customers who may not be excited about the strike by offering an even more exclusive memorabilia: A red corporate mug Design union with Starbucks Workers Association logo on the front.
Starbucks Workers Association
More than a thousand Starbucks employees went on strike on Thursday, one of the company’s busiest days.
Members of the Starbucks Workers Union are protesting outside more than 100 stores nationwide over what they call the group’s largest one-day strike. The protest took place on what is known as Red Cup Day, when the coffee giant distributes limited-edition holiday reusable cups. They are considered collectibles and customers line up from dawn to get their hands on a decorated mug. It was one of the most profitable days on the coffee giant’s calendar.
But baristas like Josie Serrano say it’s symbolic of one of the union’s fundamental demands: a call for better hiring.
“Honestly, it’s one of those days where a lot of… bartenders try to… quit because that’s always been it,” said Serrano, who works at a store in Long Beach. very crazy day. Calif.
Serrano said she has been working at Starbucks for about four and a half years. The store she works for was one of 264 stores that voted to unionize over the past year and joined the nationwide strike on Thursday.
Staffing is just one of the issues that Starbucks worker United representatives say prompted them to launch the so-called Red Cup Rebellion: A nationwide strike in which more than 100 stores staged their own barricades. their own.
The strike is aimed at getting Starbucks to negotiate with workers in good faith as the two sides try to sign new contracts, Serrano said.
According to the union, the company retaliated against union leaders and Starbucks attorneys for skipping bargaining sessions or making last-minute reorganization requests that made it difficult for members to join.
But Starbucks’ AJ Jones, executive vice president of communications, denies that allegation.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jones told NPR, adding that the company had provided Starbucks worker United with numerous notices of deal letters.
Jones said the company was probably “too aggressive” in trying to arrange negotiations. The problem with the recently disrupted talks, he said, is that union leaders at the table want to record or broadcast the bargaining talks on social media – a legal taboo.
“Under the National Labor Relations Act, you’re not allowed to record negotiating sessions. And that’s actually a clear violation of the statute because of what’s being discussed.”
The union denied that it was a legal impediment. They say all they are doing is including union members in Zoom calls, which they claim they are allowed to do.
Meanwhile, on the fence, leaders hope to win over customers who may not be excited about the strike if it hinders their chances of winning the red cup. So they’re offering an even more exclusive celebratory item: A union-designed red mug with the Starbucks Worker United logo on the front.
This is a new type of labor mobility, says Serrano.
“I find the movement very exciting. It’s very positive. And we really want to be able to share that with our supporters… like this is a party.”
There are currently about 60 new trading sessions that will take place before mid-December.
