Memphis Starbucks workers will strike today at Poplar and Highland, joining the national “Red Cup Rebellion.”
The movement demands the coffee company to bargain with baristas over staffing, scheduling, and other issues, reads a news release from Starbucks Workers United.
The strike comes on Red Cup Day, when the company hands out tens of thousands of free reusable cups, one of its busiest customer traffic days of the year, the union said. Earlier this year, workers filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board for the company’s refusal to bargain around these high-traffic promotion days.
Customers flood stores on promotional days, like Red Cup Days, without any additional staffing to cover the influx of orders, the union said. On those days, “workers are left to handle angry customers” who have to wait longer than usual or are disappointed when those supplies of red cups run out and “often take their anger out on workers.”
“We’re inviting all Starbucks baristas and shift supervisors to join this year’s Red Cup Rebellion and walk out in solidarity alongside thousands of Starbucks Workers United baristas to protest Starbucks unfair labor practices,” reads the event’s website.
Over the last two years, around 9,000 Starbucks employees have unionized at 360 stores. The union said the company has responded with “a coordinated, scorched-earth campaign” from its corporate labor office to stall bargaining. The union said the company has also given special treatment to non-union stores, like offering credit-card tipping and raises to non-union workers.
An event map shows 233 Red Cup Rebellion events are scheduled today, from Boston to Miami and San Diego to Seattle. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Memphis event was not listed on the site.
