DEPEW, N.Y. — Starbucks workers are urging customers to boycott a local location.
They say Angel Krempa, who led the union campaign at the Depew store on Transit Road, was fired on Friday.
Starbucks says she was fired for being late to work twice. Workers say store policy only requires calling ahead of time to notify the team you'll be late.
Krempa says she did, and that she has proof of it. She is one of the leaders who helped start the union campaign across Western New York.
Now workers are saying she was fired in an attempt to stop organizing efforts because she was not afraid to stand up to the company.
"I think the reason why they actually terminated me was because of how loud and proud of a union organizer I've been," Krempa said. "I recently won my union election at the store within the last few weeks, so we are a certified union and everything like that.
"The only reason they had the chance to fire me was because we don't have the contract that says 'just cause' in it, because they refused to answer my email to start to bargain."
Workers say Starbucks needs to be held accountable for what they call unfair labor practice. They are also demanding that Krempa be reinstated, with back pay, at the Depew store.
Employees at three more Starbucks stores in suburban Buffalo voted in March to form unions, bringing the number of unionized Starbucks shops to six, and further advancing organizing efforts underway in at least two dozen states, at that time.
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