Workers at an Encinitas Starbucks will join stores nationwide on strike demanding a fair contract and respect for LGBTQ+ employees.
The Starbucks store in Leucadia and I-5 will go on strike to demand Starbucks meet the workers to negotiate a fair contract and to call the company to end its “attacks on the LGBTQIA+ workers as part of its relentless union-busting campaign” that includes threatening workers’ access to benefits and refusing to let workers put up pride decorations at dozens of stores across the country.
"We stand in solidarity with LGBTQ partners across the nation who have been prohibited from expressing their pride. We hope to put pressure on the company to bargain with the union in good faith as is their responsibility so that all Starbucks partners can have fair working conditions,” said Denika Brown, partner at the Leucadia & I-5 store said in a release.
The Encinitas Starbucks joins the more than 150 stores that started striking last Friday in Seattle. Starbucks said its policy on decorating has not changed and says they support all of its employees.
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Workers United has alleged instances in at least 22 states when workers have not been able to decorate, pointing to social media accounts where workers have documented their claims. The union said it has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Starbucks over what it alleges is a change in policy, according to CNBC.
The Encinitas store was the first store in San Diego to successfully unionize last month. A Starbucks in Hillcrest stated its intent to unionize earlier this week.
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More than 300 company-owned stores have voted to unionize since the first filing took place in August of 2021, but Starbucks and Workers United have yet to agree to a contract, according to CNBC.
There are currently more than 9,000 company-owned Starbucks locations in the U.S.
