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Article

2 Nov 2021

Author:
Lauren Kaori Gurley, VICE

USA: Starbucks sends 'anti-union' email encouraging workers not to vote in union elections

"Starbucks Tells Unionizing Workers 'We Want You to Vote No'", 2 November 2021

...Starbucks sent a blatantly anti-union email to workers eligible to vote in union elections at three stores that begins on November 10.

“We want you to vote no,” the email addressed to workers at three unionizing stores in Buffalo, New York, reads, “Unless you are positive you want to pay a Union to represent you to us, you must vote no. There is no opt out if the majority of voters vote yes, regardless of how you voted.”

...Starbucks baristas under the banner Starbucks Workers United filed for union elections at three stores in Buffalo, citing erratic schedules, understaffing, and issues taking sick days. In turn, Starbucks...launched a full-blown attack campaign, holding obligatory anti-union meetings, bringing in Rosann Williams, the president of Starbucks North America, and other executives to sweep the floors and do dishes, and giving workers wage increases and remedies for problems that workers have been complaining about for years (to demonstrate that a union, in the company's mind, isn't necessary). 

...unionizing workers at the Buffalo stores say workers have been overextended for months while they’ve been expected to risk their health and safety at work. 

In September, the company temporarily closed one of the unionizing stores for training purposes, but after Motherboard covered the store closure, Starbucks reopened the store within days.

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