Striking workers carry signs and march in protest outside a Starbucks Roastery on Pike Street in Seattle.
Starbucks workers walked off the job on Friday for a weekend long strike over unfair labor practices and Pride month decorations.
“When I say Union’ you say Strong! Union Strong, Union Strong” chanting slogans, more than a dozen striking employees marched in protest outside a prominent Starbucks Roastery on Pike Street in Seattle.
“The manager is coming up to them on the first day of training” 20-year-old Caitlin Caughlin says the hostility from Starbucks is blatant in some cases, especially with new employees “And saying ‘Hey, we want to let you guys know, you might have been hearing a lot about this union stuff, but the roastery is not a union.”
Employees at this Starbucks won a union vote in April of last year, but they tell us the company won’t recognize their union status or negotiate a contract.
“Both times they emailed back and used the words ‘Refusal to Bargain’” and she says that’s not an isolated incident “All the other stores are dealing with their own issues. They aren’t being bargained with or Starbucks lawyers are walking out of sessions. As far as I know we’re the only location where Starbucks refuses to acknowledge us as union.”
In some cases the stand-off can be quantified in dollars and cents “It’s costing me a livable wage” 24-year-old Ryan Hailey says he’s losing hundreds of dollars a month in tips because Starbucks won’t make adjustments to the payment system “So many people come up and ask if they can credit card tip us because nobody carries cash anymore; we have the capability and Starbucks, as retaliation, does not want to.”
The doors were locked on Pike Street and there were no replacement workers. “That’s Terrible” that caught striking workers by surprise and tourists like Mia Minson “That’s inconvenient, very selfish.”
Employees at roughly 150 locations nationwide walked off the job over Pride decorations at Starbucks stores.
Union reps in New York claim Starbucks restricted decorations celebrating Pride Month in what it called “hypocritical treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers.”
According to published reports Pride decorations were banned from about 100 locations in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri.
In Seattle, Caughlin told reporters “It’s not something we’ve personally experienced here, but by going on strike over it we are standing in solidarity.”
Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment from Northwest Newsradio. But a spokesperson tells CNN “We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community.”
According to the company store leaders are allowed to decorate as they wish for Pride and other heritage months, as long as those decorations adhere to safety guidelines.
As many as 3,500 workers are expected to join the strike nationwide over the next week.
