Starbucks union claims company closed two cafes in retaliation

By Hilary Russ

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The union representing Starbucks Corp staff 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, – realized on Monday that their places would shut, the Employees United union mentioned in an announcement. Employees at each shops have requested the Nationwide Labor Relations Board to carry union elections.

“We apply the identical give attention to security at unionized and non-union shops and are closing non-union shops the place we’re equally challenged in offering a secure surroundings for our buyer and accomplice expertise,” a Starbucks spokesperson mentioned on Tuesday.

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

The Seattle location is without doubt one of the roughly 9,000 U.S. cafes operated by Starbucks immediately. However it can develop into a licensed retailer run by the grocery chain to which it’s connected.

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 would not make anybody safer – it simply makes it more durable to pay lease,” Josh Crowell, a employee on the Kansas Metropolis location mentioned in an announcement.

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

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

“We face issues through which 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; Enhancing by Chris Reese and Josie Kao)