Some Starbucks workers undertook their most extensive coordinated campaign against management to date, with planned strikes occurring at more than one hundred U.S. locations on Thursday.
Unionizing Starbucks workers called their coordinated strike against the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain “The Red Cup Rebellion.”
U.S. Starbucks locations once again rolled out their limited-edition holiday cups for the company’s annual “Red Cup Day,” a favorite amongst Starbucks loyalists.
However, in place of handing Starbucks customers their typical holiday-themed cup, unionizing locations instead handed out red “Starbucks Workers United” (SWU) cups in a campaign to spread awareness about the coffee giant’s alleged union-busting tactics.
“Starbucks’ continuous and lawless union busting has cast doubt on the future of the American labor movement,” SWU said in a news release. “Unless Starbucks comes to the table and bargains in good faith for a fair contract, we can count on this to happen again with the potential to impact even more Americans.”
Despite allegations of “union-busting tactics” by some workers, the coffee chain has denied any wrongdoing.
“We respect our partners’ right to organize but believe the best future is created directly with partners and not a third party,” company spokesman Reggie Borges said in a statement.
To date, more than 250 Starbucks locations nationwide have voted to unionize, with more than 21,000 union supporters joining in solidarity, according to the SWU.
Although that number seems large, it actually represents less than 3% of the 9,000 company-operated Starbucks stores around the country, NPR reported.
Typically considered one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year, some workers dread and often pre-plan to have the day off, according to Josie Serrano, a Starbucks barista based in Long Beach, California.
Serrano said one of the fundamental requests by union workers had been a call for better staffing, which the company has reportedly refused to budge on.
In addition to handing customers a red, union-themed cup, members of the SWU staged hundreds of picketing events outside the company’s numerous storefronts.
“In those locations where partners choose to participate, we respect their right to engage in lawful protest activity — though our focus has been, and continues to be, on uplifting the Starbucks experience for our partners and customers,” said Andrew Trull, senior manager of corporate communications for Starbucks.
Starbucks has engaged with the SWU “in a good faith effort to move the bargaining process forward,” Trull said.
Out of the many cities where Starbucks has locations in Texas, Dallas was not among those that participated in any official SWU strikes.
Starbucks locations in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio each had stores participate in the strike.
“From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we do not want a union between us as partners, and that conviction has not changed. However, we have also said that we respect the legal process,” said Starbucks Executive Vice President Rossann Williams in a letter to partners earlier this year.
Although talk of unionizing Starbucks stores was all the rage in the first half of the year, the number of stores petitioning to hold union elections dropped sharply in the latter half, with a high of 71 petitions in March and a low of eight by August.
Starbucks doesn’t have a monopoly on anything so switching is easy. Plenty of of other non union coffee places around for almost half the cost with no sacrifice on taste.