Earlier this week, a regional director with the NLRB filed a request for an injunction against Starbucks in federal court, saying the company violated labor law when it fired a union organizer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Starbucks and the union have begun contract talks at 53 stores, with 13 additional sessions scheduled, Starbucks Workers United said. Fifty-seven stores have held votes in which workers opted not to unionize. At the time, four other Maryland Starbucks shops had begun the process of organizing, which, besides Nottingham, included Linthicum, Bel Air and Stevensville.Īt least 257 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year, according to the National Labor Relations Board. The North Charles Street coffee shop workers voted unanimously in April to join Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU. The union said the goal is to shut stores down during the strikes and noted that the company usually has difficulty staffing during Red Cup Day because it’s so busy. … I’d like to see these people treated much better than they have been.” And I think they also need to be able to raise their quality of living. “You and Amazon seem to be doing the two biggest ones I’ve seen lately,” said David Curran, a neighborhood resident, adding that Starbucks workers “need to have a voice in the management of the company. Some customers walked past striking workers into the store, but one supporter stopped to encourage the efforts, telling workers he is a retired union electrician. We have put a lot of time into coming up with our contract, and they just won’t even give us the time of day.” “We just want to send a message that this is not OK,” Levy said “They have to come to meet with us. Kieren Levy, 22, a barista for more than a year, said continued top concerns are workers being underpaid and given too few hours and stores being understaffed. Workers finally got the raise but not the back pay to which they’re entitled, Sovine said. Standing outside the Mount Vernon Starbucks, Sovine credited the union with helping to protect insurance benefits but complained of a delay in getting a raise that first went only to non-unionized stores. Strikers said they believed that early closing was due to low staffing, as only managers had come to work.Ī similar picket line that took place through midafternoon Thursday was organized by workers at the Starbucks in the Nottingham Square Shopping Center on Campbell Boulevard in White Marsh. About 15 workers walked a picket line at various times throughout the day, until the store closed early in midafternoon. In Baltimore, some workers appeared on the corner of North Charles and East Preston streets as early as 5 a.m., waving signs with rallying cries such as “We Deserve Better” and asking motorists to honk in support of unionization. Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close Menu
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