BUFFALO, N.Y. — The labor battle between Starbucks and their employees here in Western New York who voted to unionize is apparently escalating. The union says more key organizers were fired so union members set up an informational picket Tuesday.
Customers turning up for their morning coffee at the 20 Starbucks stores throughout the Buffalo area may have heard this first on Tuesday morning. There were chants from employees staging a demonstration in front of the stores that went like this "union busting is disgusting."
Those members of they what they say was the firing of another ten workers involved in union organizing activities. That is even as the stores which already voted for a union shop have been struggling in bargaining with the company to get their first-ever union contract.
Jaz Brisack who told 2 on Your Side she is a barista said, "Starbucks has no incentive to give us the kind of contract that we deserve and the kind of contract that we can sign until they actually stop fighting the union across the country."
We also spoke with labor law attorney Harvey Sanders of the WNY Employment Law Firm who added, "There's a significant percentage of situations where they never get the first contract."
Some Buffalo Starbucks stores last December became the first in the nation in decades to approve union representation. Meanwhile, they are seeing some non-union stores elsewhere reportedly getting offers of better pay and benefits from Starbucks.
2 On Your Side asked Brisack, "Does that frustrate you or do you feel that's an indication that your effort is working?"
She replied, "Exactly. I think what they're giving to the non-union stores is exactly what we have been asking for. In fact, the pay bump that they've announced - they announced right when we were getting our election date."
The National Labor Relations Board on their behalf back in June sought a federal court order against Starbucks corporate officers for actions of alleged interference with the union ranging from dismissal of employee-union organizers to threats of retaliation and even store closings. Some experts like Sanders feel it's a difficult case to make with limited repercussions even if forced to rehire any fired staffers He says, "If in fact, Starbucks fired them unlawfully because of their union activities, the union could go to the National Labor Relations Board and ask the board to try to intercede and bring a complaint against Starbucks. And there's a process both within the NLRB as well as through the court system that could ultimately arrive at an order that would order Starbucks to take these employees back."
Sanders adds, "There are some financial costs because at that point Starbucks will have been paying back pay for a period of time that these employees were not working. You know whether that's a sufficient financial penalty for Starbucks I guess - that's a question for Starbucks I suppose."
Brisack responded this way when asked if they can stick this out with a potentially long dispute and legal battle. "So our momentum is still growing and I think our customer support and awareness is also growing which is how we're gonna win this."
A Starbucks spokesman sent along a statement after we specifically requested their response about allegations of union busting and dismissal of more employees who helped with union organizing. It reads, "We stand by our partners who choose to participate in protests or events of personal importance to them. Starbucks is grounded in our ability to express our shared commonalities and differences. In fact, it’s what drives Starbucks ‘third place’ and culture of belonging. As we’ve said from the beginning, we will listen to and support these partners as we always do in our stores across the country. That means we have and will continue to respect the legal process and respect their voices."