Starbucks has gradually fired over 20 union leaders across the U.S. during the past several months as campaigns to organize unions grow, reports The Guardian. Workers have filed petitions for union elections in over 250 stores across 35 states.
The National Labor Relations Board has issued complaints against the company over employee terminations, demanding backpay, or opportunities for affected employees to return to work, according to the report. The NLRB has accused Starbucks of over 200 violations of federal labor laws.
“I believe I was fired for being a shift supervisor who was pro-union,” Ashlee Feldman, who had worked at a Starbucks in Missouri for three years, told The Guardian. “These higher-ups don’t care about us. They aren’t in the stores busting ass like we are. They don’t connect with the customers like we do.”
Feldman was fired a few days before her store’s union election ballots were mailed. In a statement regarding her termination, a Starbucks spokesperson said, “A partner’s interest in a union does not exempt them from the standards we have always held. Any claims of anti-union activity are categorically false.”
Starbucks recently rolled out a new benefits package for its employees, exempting workers at many unionized stores, according to the report. Full Story
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