Every week at All Saints Church we put our faith in action. This week our focus is protesting Starbuck’s failure to fairly and justly address their employee issues and their out of bounds anti-union tactics.

In a big win for the labor movement, a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York became the first unionized Starbucks store in the U.S. The vote sets a precedent and now over 100 stores have either unionized, announced plans to unionize, or filed for a vote.

Workers at Starbucks locations across the country have complained for years about the company’s labor practices, which include the inability to utilize sick time and a chronically chaotic work environment, only made worse by the pandemic. Employees also point to low pay, poor benefits, and unpredictable work schedules as driving factors behind the decision.

Now, despite soaring profits and plans to raise prices, Starbucks is waging a massive anti-union war with workers. To date, their attempts have included: closing stores, sending executives in to surveil and discourage unionization, diluting the voting power of pro-union employees by packing the stores with new employees, scheduling pro-union employees at inconsistent hours, targeting union leaders for minor infractions, and hosting anti-union meetings.

Pro-union workers have seen cuts to their hours in order to cut their pay and benefits, and are being targeted as a retaliatory tactic for their support.

The company has recently gone as far as to fire the entire organizing committee at the Memphis location for speaking to the press.

Despite being a self-proclaimed progressive company, Starbucks leadership continues to pursue an agenda that prioritizes profit over people at every turn. It is overwhelmingly clear that Starbucks will stop at almost nothing to keep workers from unionizing.

The success of Starbucks employees that wish to unionize will rely heavily on support from the public and how we as consumers show up in this moment to support Starbucks workers.

We are calling on Starbucks leadership, including CEO and President Kevin Johnson, to completely halt all anti-union tactics the company is deploying to discourage the collective bargaining process.

Please sign the petition to Starbucks.

Options to Take Action:

1. 1. Sign a letter at the Action Table.
   2. Download a PDF copy of the Action Letter adapted for individual use, sign it and mail.
      
   3. Sign the Daily Kos petition to Starbucks: Halt all union-busting tactics.

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If you ever need to look up your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senators check here: www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

To find contact information for your California State Senator or California State Assemblyperson check here: www.senate.ca.gov and www.assembly.ca.gov.