Upset baristas lead all-day strike Saturday at Starbucks in Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- Waves of union organizing continue to sweep the retail sector, hitting Starbucks, Trader Joe's, Amazon, Apple, and other large retailers.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, some Brooklyn baristas with Starbucks were off the job and on a picket line on Saturday.
It was an all-day strike for workers who voted over the summer to unionize a Starbucks Reserve store in Williamsburg. Baristas stirred it up because they say the coffee giant is ignoring their demands and stalling.
"They won't even show up at the negotiating table," barista C.J. Toothman said.
"We're not asking for much for asking for basic work rights," barista Ari Ayala added.
The location in Williamsburg was open for business at 6:30 a.m., but by 10 a.m. the sign was up closing the store for the day, Carlin reported. Only a handful of workers were inside the locked store cleaning up by the middle of the day.
Out front, workers, along with allies and some politicians, handed out flyers and free cops of coffee -- and not from Starbucks.
The move follows months of tension.
Also voting yes to a union have been other Starbucks locations in the state, including in Buffalo.
Starbucks calls members of its workforce partners and emailed CBS2, saying, "We value their contributions," adding, "... always do our best to listen," and, "We respect our partners' right to engage in any legally protected activity or protest without retaliation."
READ MORE: Attempt to form second Amazon union on Staten Island fails
City Councilman Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn said he sees this the beginning of a broader movement in the retail sector.
"Here on the north side of Williamsburg, we are a hotbed of union organizing. At Starbucks here on 7th Street, Trader Joe's on Kent, workers are standing up, organizing and demanding better wages and better benefits," Restler said.
"Job security, consistent scheduling," Ayala added. "If somethings being added to our workload, to just be able to have a vote in on whether we get to do that at the store."
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said he is seeing some corporations actively try to keep unions at bay, but not all.
"Minor league baseball agreed to recognize its workers' union. Conde Nast, the publications with New Yorker and Vogue agreed. Microsoft agreed to be neutral as workers at Activision Blizzard organized, so it's not hard for Starbucks to recognize the union. Where people want to have it, fine. Where people don't want to," Lander said.
The workers say you can expect more strikes like Saturday's in New York City and across the nation.
