Starbucks’ Red Cup Day is a major sales event. Red Starbucks cups are given out to celebrate the holidays.

The company’s employees had other ideas this year, despite a nationwide strike for unionization. To protest the working conditions of management. Hedging in bargaining They began a strike that lasted for a whole day with the newly formed union.

Metro Phoenix was the early epicenter for the Starbucks union effort. Workers from at least two stores in Mesa and Avondale joined the picket lines as part of an effort at more than 100 stores nationwide.

Michelle Hejduk worked for Starbucks for five years. She has worked at Starbucks in east Mesa for the past two-and-a half years.

The corner of busy intersection is where you will find the coffeehouse. The third Starbucks store in the country Successfully vote to unionize. It was the first union to be voted for outside of Buffalo, New York. This effort helped establish the Starbucks union movement as a national movement. Hejduk said that they were watching the events in Buffalo and noticed that the company was saying that it was a Buffalo issue. Mesa workers realized that they could prove them wrong.

Right? Hejduk stated that iron has never cooled off.

At least two Starbucks stores in the Valley were forced to close on November 17 when workers staged a strike.

Katya Schwenk

Some Stores Closed by Strike

While other Starbucks locations opened for Red Cup Day on Thursday, the east Mesa store was closed after Hejduk and other employees walked out. She said, “We completely closed it down for today.” Managers who arrived at the office in the morning to inquire if workers were coming in were quickly directed to post signs saying “closed” and then left.

On Thursday afternoon, workers were enjoying a break from the picket line when a reporter visited. Faux red cups, adorned with the logo for Starbucks Workers United (the national Starbucks union), were placed on a table outside. Workers offered their red cups to customers who arrived at the store and discovered it was closed.

Supporters from other unions, as well as the Phoenix branch of Democratic Socialists of America joined Starbucks employees. Jakob Membrila has been working at the Power and Baseline stores for several months and said that it was encouraging to see workers “have one another’s backs.”

Jakob Membrila and Michelle Hejduk walked off the job at a Starbucks in Mesa on November 17.

Katya Schwenk

“I Gotta Admire That Level of Pettiness”

Although the unionization of Starbucks has had some success, there have been also challenges. The corporate giant tried to stop union efforts at all locations, even in the Valley. The company Laila Dalton, fired Phoenix organizer After she led a union effort in a Scottsdale store. In May, CEO Howard Schultz A new slate of benefits was announced • Wage increases and the ability to tip customers with a credit card, but only in stores that are not unionized.

Membrila described it as “really frustrating”, but he said that he admires the level of pettiness. Hejduk and Membrila stated that working conditions at the store were already poor due to fewer tips and lower salaries. They also said that management reduced the hours workers could work. This made it more difficult for workers to be eligible for certain benefits such as ASU tuition coverage.

Starbucks spokesperson stated that the company was determined to make Starbucks “a company that works well for all.”

Andrew Trull released a statement saying that while we respect their right to protest lawfully, our focus is on improving the Starbucks experience for customers and partners. New Times

Hejduk stated that the small benefits she receive are one reason why she believes the organizing effort can improve Starbucks’ conditions. She was an important leader in organizing Power and Baseline stores ahead of the February union vote. She has also been involved in the bargaining process, as Starbucks Workers United attempts negotiate a contract for union workers. According to Workers United, Workers United now represents more than 250 stores.

One of the signs employees used during their strike outside a Starbucks in Mesa on November 17.

Katya Schwenk

Starbucks: We are negotiating in good faith

It was a hard process. Starbucks workers and union leaders, Hejduk included, Have reported Starbucks attorneys spend hours focusing on minutiae and leave before bargaining starts. Or they refuse to attend bargaining sessions altogether.

Starbucks has denied these claims. Trull stated that Starbucks had continued to engage Workers United representatives “counter to what the union shared”. He said that the company plans to attend many bargaining sessions over the next few weeks.

Hejduk refuted the notion that Starbucks was trying bargain in good faith. She said that Starbucks was refusing to negotiate. They’re doing everything they can to stop this campaign.

But it has not been able to.

@losangelespatch Thousands of Starbucks workers went on strike during the one of the chain’s busiest days of the year, Red Cup Day. Hear an organizer in Long Beach explain why. #starbucks #redcupday #strike #starbucksdrinks #labor #union #fyp ♬ original sound – LA Patch | Local News