Starbucks union claims company closed two cafes in retaliation

A workers poses with a cup of water at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 10, 2017. Image taken February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The union representing Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) workers at about 200 of its cafes mentioned on Tuesday the espresso chain closed two places in retaliation for organizing actions there, although the corporate cited enterprise and security causes for the closures.

Staff on the two shops – one in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, and one other in Starbucks’ hometown Seattle, Washington, – discovered on Monday that their places would shut, the Staff United union mentioned in a press release. Staff at each shops have requested the Nationwide Labor Relations Board to carry union elections.

“We apply the identical concentrate on security at unionized and non-union shops and are closing non-union shops the place we’re equally challenged in offering a protected setting for our buyer and associate expertise,” a Starbucks spokesperson mentioned on Tuesday.

Starbucks has closed 19 shops up to now few months, 42% of which had union exercise, the union mentioned.

The Seattle location is likely one of the roughly 9,000 U.S. cafes operated by Starbucks immediately. However it can change into a licensed retailer run by the grocery chain to which it’s hooked up.

The Kansas Metropolis cafe is the second busiest within the space, the union mentioned. The explanation it was given for the closure was security considerations.

“Shutting down shops does not make anybody safer – it simply makes it tougher to pay lease,” Josh Crowell, a employee on the Kansas Metropolis location mentioned in a press release.

Starbucks Chief Govt Officer Howard Schultz mentioned in a leaked video on Twitter in July that the corporate was shuttering cafes attributable to issues of safety, together with crime and homelessness.

Security was one of many main considerations Schultz mentioned he heard from workers about their jobs.

“We face issues wherein the shops weren’t constructed for,” he mentioned within the video. “There are going to be many extra (closures).”

Reporting by Hilary Russ; extra reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Modifying by Chris Reese and Josie Kao

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