Starbucks fired seven workers who were involved in forming a union in Memphis, Tennessee. This fact adds to the accusations made against the company that it is retaliating against this unionization movement that is taking place in its locations in the United States.
Starbucks denied that the dismissals were related to the employees’ intentions to unionize. A company spokesman, Reggie Borges, said the workers were fired for serious safety violations.
The firings stem from an incident last month in which employees allowed members of the of the media entered the store as part of the public announcement of their intention to unionize.
Borges said that Starbucks employees can speak freely with the media if they wish, but that members of the press and some staff were not authorized to be in the store after closing hours. operations.
However, employees allowed the media to enter the private back-of-house area while leaving a door unlocked, Borges said. Also, another member of staff opened a safe when he was not authorized to do so.
“These egregious actions and flagrant violations cannot be ignored. As a result of our investigation, several partners involved are no longer at Starbucks given significant violations of these policies,” Borges said, according to CNN.
Starbucks Workers United, the union that helps several stores organize, accused the company of busting unions and selectively enforcing those policies they mention only to attack union leaders.
“Starbucks fired me today for ‘policies’ that I had never heard of before and had never been written about before,” said Nikki Taylor, shift supervisor.
Borges disputed the accusation and said that all Starbucks employees receive training related to store security and are aware that violating the policy can result in their termination.
The Memphis layoffs come just two months after a branch in Buffalo, New York, was converted rtiera in the first US Starbucks to unionize. Labor organizers say more than other 50 stores in the United States are also looking to hold union elections.
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