STARBUCKS WORKERS DOUBLE DOWN: UNION STORES GO ON NATIONWIDE THREE DAY STRIKE
Workers escalate with the longest national action in the campaign’s history.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2022
PRESS CONTACT
starbucksmedia@workers-united.org
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Starting this Friday, around 100 Starbucks union stores and over 1,000 union baristas will be striking. The majority will be striking for three days, from Friday, December 16 to Sunday, December 18, including workers at the Starbucks’ Flagship Seattle Roastery.
The ‘Double Down Strike’, a nationwide unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, is the longest collective action in the campaign’s history and is the latest escalation against Starbucks’ ruthless campaign of anti-union bullying.
Workers made history when over 110 Starbucks stores and 1,000 baristas walked out on strike on November 17, 2022 in what was dubbed ‘Red Cup Rebellion.’
Yet, instead of listening to workers, Starbucks decided to escalate their anti-union campaign by closing the Broadway & Denny location, the first store to organize in Seattle, on the one-year anniversary of the first Starbucks union election win. Starbucks doubled down on their union-busting, so workers are going to double down their fight for a contract.
“Starbucks sent a clear message when they closed the Broadway and Denny store,” said Michelle Eisen, a barista from the Elmwood location, who was recently named one of Bloomberg’s 50 most influential people of the year. “They’re doubling down on their union-busting, so we’re doubling down, too. We’re demanding fair staffing, an end to store closures, and that Starbucks bargain with us in good faith.”
On the picket line, workers will be letting customers know that they can support organizing by baristas by not purchasing Starbucks Gift Cards this year, as part of the #NoContractNoGiftCards campaign.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has now issued over 45 official Complaints encompassing over 900 alleged violations of federal labor law, making Starbucks one of the worst violators of federal labor law in modern U.S. history.
