Starbucks union mobilizes customers for protests – 07/10/2023 – Market

Starbucks’ pro-union baristas are taking their campaign to the streets on Monday and trying a new tactic: asking the coffee chain’s customers to organize pickets at non-union establishments across the United States.

Workers United union plans to hand out flyers during a 13-city bus tour to customers with a QR Code that takes them to a sign-up sheet to organize their own protests during a “national ‘Adopt a Store’ day of action” on 7 August, according to copies of the leaflets seen by Reuters.

The union is taking a more aggressive tactic of targeting customers directly as contract negotiations drag on. The union and the company blame each other for delays in negotiations and alleged breaches of labor law.

Starbucks has received more than 570 allegations of unfair labor practices. On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board sued Starbucks over its refusal to rehire 33 workers as it moved three downtown Seattle stores to another location after one of those cafes unionized.

The dispute is threatening Starbucks’ reputation as a progressive employer, with some investors pressing the company to account for its treatment of pro-union employees.

The union now represents baristas and shift supervisors at about 320 of the approximately 9,000 Starbucks-owned locations across the United States. However, its recent growth is at risk if it fails to close deals at the stores where it represents employees.

“Despite the fact that we have attempted to schedule negotiations for hundreds of stores, Workers United only met with Starbucks at the table to move forward with negotiations for 11 stores,” Starbucks said in a statement.

“[Os funcionários] voted for negotiation, not for buses,” the company said, adding that the stalled negotiations left workers so frustrated that they filed petitions to expel the union at several stores.