(New York) Under the name of “the revolt of the red cups”, employees of more than a hundred Starbucks in the United States planned to demonstrate in front of their store Thursday to denounce the tactics against the union of the company.
Very close to the legendary Times Square in New York, a dozen young employees are protesting in the freezing cold in front of the café that employs them, brandishing signs in the name of the organization behind this movement, Starbucks Workers United ( SWU), and chanting “workers on strike”.
To passers-by who wish, they distribute a red cup bearing the insignia of the union. An initiative intended to counter a marketing operation by the coffee chain, which distributes a free red reusable cup on Thursday to customers buying a drink in a selection of establishments across the country.
Hal Battjes, 21, has been pacing the sidewalk with his megaphone since 5:30 a.m.
“We had a lot of support from our regulars” during the morning rush hour, some choosing to give up their coffee, she says. Other customers will take their order without paying special attention.
Protestors are demanding more regular schedules, better pay, and for Starbucks to come to the negotiating table with SWU without fuss.
A group of company employees in Buffalo created a surprise at the end of 2021 by setting up the first union in a store directly managed by the chain in the country. They were then emulated, more than 260 establishments having now joined SWU.
But the company’s management has been slow to start negotiations on collective agreements and is accused by the union of bullying tactics against its members. Among these the dismissal for fallacious reasons of employees seeking to unionize, or even the outright closing of stores.
“A Fight Worth It”
At the cafe near Times Square, protesters hope to hold a vote on forming a union next month.
“It’s a fight worth fighting,” said 18-year-old Jay Tosa.
His father, an electrician, has been a union member for a long time. “I know the benefits it can bring,” she says.
Above all, it feels better equipped to fight “the old anti-union propaganda” spread by managers who regularly tell them that they have a lot to lose by wanting to be represented by a third party organization.
The US Labor Law Bureau (NLRB) has filed dozens of complaints against the company for union busting. In August, a judge forced Starbucks to rehire seven employees of a Memphis, Tennessee, establishment who were fired for attempting to unionize.
“We are aware that union demonstrations are planned in a small number of the stores directly operated by the company” in the United States, indicated in a message to AFP Starbucks, which manages a total of just over 10,200 cafes. in North America.
“We respect their right to participate in legal protest activities,” adds the group, stressing that its priority remains to improve the experience of customers and all employees. The coffee chain also claims to negotiate “in good faith” with union members.
In the wake of Starbucks, several unions have made inroads in recent months in companies that had hitherto succeeded in repelling the wishes of their employees, including Amazon, Apple, Chipotle and Trader’s Joe.
But faced with resistance from their leadership, they are still struggling to turn their victories into concrete progress.
“If Starbucks can break the law to discourage union organizing efforts by its workers, other companies may follow suit,” SWU notes. This represents a threat to “the future of the labor movement in the United States”, deplores the organization.