Somerville Starbucks Workers Walk Out After Anti-Union Threats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 15, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:

starbucksmedia@workers-united.org 

SOMERVILLE — This morning, workers at the Somerville Avenue Starbucks store walked out from work after facing disciplinary threats from management for wearing union apparel. The threats come only a few weeks after the workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to unionize with Starbucks Workers United — the national campaign to unionize the coffee giant — on February 24. 

“Yesterday, [one of us] got written up for wearing her Starbucks Workers United shirt, and today, we got told again we’re not allowed to wear it, even though it is legally protected. So we walked out, and we will stay walked out until 12:00 p.m. today,” said one Somerville worker this morning while picketing outside of the store.

Starbucks management’s attempts to discipline workers for wearing union apparel is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act, which Starbucks has been found in violation of for similar offenses across the country over the course of the national union campaign.

In a letter to CEO Howard Schultz informing him of their decision to file for unionization, the Somerville partners wrote, “We give our all to make our store a place that people want to be. Despite this, however, we do not feel appreciated for this work. What we do feel is unheard, unrecognized, and disrespected.”

Starbucks Workers United is the union drive that has taken the labor movement by storm, with more new unions formed in 12 months than any U.S. company in the last 20 years — now sitting at nearly 300 stores and more than 7,000 workers nationwide. Despite Starbucks’ ruthless union-busting campaign that’s included firing nearly 200 union leaders across the country and shuttering union stores, workers continue to fight and stand up for their rights. The NLRB has issued 65 official Complaints against the Company, encompassing over 1,300 violations, and making Starbucks one of the worst violators of federal labor law in history.

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