Aug 16, 2022

A Starbucks location in Lakewood was a ‘site of collective joy’ on Monday morning as union members gathered on the picket line to strike against the company’s ‘unfair labor practices’. Tyler Keeling, a barista trainer who is the main organizer of the Lakewood store, described an aura of community and togetherness among union members as they gathered at 4 a.m., chanting phrases such as “Hey , Hey, Ho, Ho, Howard Schultz has to go!” and holding signs that read, “No contract, no coffee.” Workers “who weren’t even sure what a union was before are here singing, celebrating, waving signs and picketing together,” Keeling said. “We have all these people from different unions and organizations supporting us. There’s just this joy that we all share right now. The Lakewood store at 4833 Candlewood St. and another location in Barstow at 2834 Lenwood Road began their one-day strike Monday. Workers at those stores joined union members working at a Santa Cruz site and began a three-day strike on Saturday. The Santa Cruz location on Ocean and Water streets, along with another store in the same city, were also the first stores to unionize in California in May. Since then, a total of 14 stores have unionized in California, including three in the city of Los Angeles. “Starbucks has great partners and we value their contributions. We respect our partners’ right to engage in any legally protected activity or event without retaliation,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement to The Times. We are grateful to each partner who continues to work, and we always do our best to listen to the concerns of all our partners.” The strikes were triggered by multiple cases of unfair labor practices, according to union leaders. One of the union’s main grievances stems from a list of new benefits announced by Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz in May. Keeling said the Seattle coffee company announced at the time that union members would not be eligible for those benefits. In response, Starbucks Workers United filed a nationwide unfair labor practice lawsuit, arguing that it is illegal to deny these benefits to union members. Keeling said these benefits cannot be implemented without bargaining negotiations between the company and the union. However, the union believes that “the intention of the company was to deceive and scare the workers into believing that we would never get these benefits if we unionized,” Keeling said. In late July, the union sent a formal letter to the company saying it was waiving its right to bargain and granting Starbucks “full authorization and consent” to implement the new benefits. A few days ago, the company sent an internal memo stating that “it is unfair to implement these benefits” for union members and that the union must enter into negotiations over them, Keeling said. Starbucks Workers United also says Schultz tried to “intervene, restrain and coerce employees” against unionization. They argue that Schultz and his colleagues delayed and refused to meet with unions to negotiate, despite being “required by law to do so.” Union leaders also pointed out that Starbucks has not been open or transparent in arranging bargaining meetings, which the union hopes to accomplish with the strike. “It’s community, fairness and equality. When I was hired, that’s what they told me Starbucks stands for,” said Ezra Erickson, Barstow’s senior store organizer who works as a barista. “We want Starbucks to come to the bargaining table for the union. We want a place at the table. Noel Bennett, shift supervisor and lead organizer at the Santa Cruz site at Ocean and Water Streets, said there has been little communication between the union and Starbucks regarding the negotiations. However, union members have received a message from their district managers that whatever the strike, their jobs will be secure. “Starbucks says it will negotiate in good faith; however, to negotiate in good faith, they must first negotiate,” Bennett said. “We call on Starbucks to end its union busting campaign and come to the bargaining table as soon as possible.” Bennett also said management interfered with workers’ rights to distribute union literature in the rest area of ​​his location by “tearing up our flyers and throwing them away.” “We, the Ocean and Water union, hope this strike will be seen not only by Starbucks management and business, but by baristas across the state,” Bennett said. “We want them to know we have a voice and the ability to organize. We want them to know that they are not alone in their frustrations and that we, unionized or not, are ready to unite to defend the rights of our workers. Starbucks management also interfered with workers’ right to say the word “union” on the Barstow site, Erickson said. Management would not allow employees to use expressions such as “strong union” or “union” while working. Erickson also said that if customers tried to show their support for the union by using similar wording, company management would shut it down as well. This is illegal because it is against labor laws, Erickson said. The strike was also important for the Barstow site to ensure workers show solidarity with other unionized sites across the country, Erickson said. Starbucks workers have staged more than 55 strikes in 17 states in recent months in response to the company’s opposition to unionization, Starbucks Workers United said in a press release. “We want to be unions. We want customers to be able to say they are a strong union. We want partners to feel comfortable,” Erickson said. “These customers really care about us, and people really care when other people are treated unfairly.” In a corrective action form filed by Starbucks Workers United on Friday, union members said the company unfairly fired hundreds of employees when it closed several stores last month. According to the company, these sites were shut down due to crime and security concerns. However, the union said the company “has not provided sufficient evidence for these concerns”. “Howard Schultz’s behavior is unethical and dangerous,” the corrective action form said. “He said conducting business with integrity and transparency is essential for the company. Nothing Howard Schultz has done in response to the union campaign at Starbucks has been done with integrity or transparency. After a three-day strike, the Santa Cruz site will conclude its strike at 5:29 a.m. Tuesday, just before the store opens for the day. The Lakewood store will end its strike at 9 p.m. Monday. The Barstow strike will also end on Monday evening. “Lakewood is our community. Long Beach is our community. This is where we are. It’s what we’re embedded in and we love it,” Keeling said. “We want everyone to come out and support us because community is important. That’s why we unionized. Los Angeles Times Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.