Starbucks workers strike in Gardner as part of national protest
Photo | Courtesy of Starbucks
A Starbucks barista
Workers at seven Starbucks locations in Massachusetts went on strike Thursday, including the store on West Broadway in Gardner, as part of a nationwide strike by unionized workers at more than 100 Starbucks locations.
Starbucks Workers United is calling the strike a Red Cup Rebellion because workers are picketing on the day Starbucks is releasing its annual red travel cup, which is given out to customers who purchase specific holiday drinks.
Workers are calling for Starbucks to “fully staff our union stores, because we know that Short Staffing = Venti Wait Times. Starbucks thinks they can drag their feet in bargaining, and we’re here to show them we rebel against their tactics and we mean business – by shutting down theirs,” according to the union’s Facebook page.
Negotiations on a bargaining contract between union workers and Starbucks have been contentious and so far agreements on contracts have not come to fruition, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Workers say they’re asking for better pay, more consistent schedules and better staffing at peak hours. Starbucks argues its stores work best without unions and negotiates directly with its workers, which it calls partners. The Seattle-based company has more than 9,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.
The unionized workers at the Gardner location are on strike while the Worcester location on East Central Street, which also is unionized, is not striking Thursday, according to the Starbucks Workers United Massachusetts branch. The workers in Worcester went on strike in August in protest over the benefits packages Starbucks was offering non-union workers.
Both stores voted to unionize in June and are supported by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.
According to unionelections.org, the vote to unionize the store in Worcester had 14 votes for unionization to zero votes against out 39 eligible voters. In Gardner, 14 voted for while zero voted against out of 31 eligible voters.
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