At least five Starbucks locations in Philadelphia were impacted Monday morning as workers take a stand against, what an employees' union called, the coffee company's "unprecedented union-busting campaign."
Representatives with Starbucks Workers United said that the action comes as the group is touring the country "fighting for the right to organize free from fear, intimidation, or coercion from Starbucks; the right to work in a safe, secure, and respectful workplace; a living wage, guaranteed hours, and consistent scheduling; and fairness in the workplace, including a grievance procedure and protection from unjust discipline."
Starbucks stores at 10th and Market streets, at the Penn Medicine Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, at 20th and Market streets, at Broad and Spring Garden streets and at 9th and South streets were expected to be closed Monday in support of the strike.
Over the weekend, workers gathered at City Hall to call for City Council to "demand that Center City District only contract with a local union coffee shop" for the coffee shop contracted to operate in Dilworth Park.
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A Starbucks kiosk is located there.
“The union movement is really important because it reminds people about our rights as workers and the idea of labor exploitation. We want to be respected, seen and shown respect. We want to hold Starbucks accountable to their mission statement, "Blue Garvin, a Starbucks worker at the Penn Medicine location said in a statement.
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According to Starbucks Workers United, more than 8,500 workers at more than 330 stores in 41 states have joined the union.
“Today’s strike was empowering. It was great to see workers from all across the country show-up & show out for us. This is history in the making; done will be the days where workers are exploited for their labor and that we take back what we’re owed as workers," Devin Moore, a Starbucks employee at the Penn Medicine location said in a statement.
The union claims that the coffee giant has "cut hours, closed stores, and intimidated workers as part of their scorched-earth union-busting campaign."
Contacted by NBC10, a representative for Starbucks claimed union representatives have failed to attend scheduled negotiation meetings.
"Even though we have attempted to schedule bargaining for hundreds of stores, Workers United has only met Starbucks at the table to progress negotiations for 10 stores," said a Starbucks representative in an email.
The representative said the company remains ready to "progress in-person negotiations with the unions certified to represent our partners, and we encourage Workers United to respond to proposed dates for future store bargaining sessions."
A spokesperson from Starbucks sent NBC10 the following statement regarding the strike:
"At the five stores in Philadelphia where partners chose to participate in strike activities on Sunday, we made every effort to staff the stores with partners from nearby locations interested in picking up additional hours.
As a result, we were able to maintain modified operations at four out of the five stores where partners chose to participate in protest activities (10th and Market was the only store closed on Sunday). All stores were open and operated a full schedule on Monday."
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