Eugene Starbucks stores joined a nationwide strike on Thursday, the same day as “Red Cup Day” where Starbucks gave away reusable red cups with a purchase of a holiday drink.
In a campaign called the “Red Cup Rebellion,” Starbucks workers left their stores in protest of the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith, the protesters said.
Eugene Starbucks workers, including those from the store inside the Erb Memorial Union, joined the unionization group UO Student Workers in the amphitheater for a rally.
Aine Hovan, an EMU Starbucks employee, said she gets sympathetic comments from students during especially busy days.
“Everyone’s watching you,” Aine Hovan said. “I feel like I get so out of my zone when so many people are watching me.”
A picket line was held between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the EMU, attracting people from unions and those in the community.
Starbucks, which reportedly harnessed record profits this past fiscal year, saw closures with signs stamped to drive thru menus and entrances that read “on strike.”
Ollie Weiss, a supervisor at the EMU Starbucks, said his store is consistently short staffed and heavily trafficked. When the holiday drinks first came in, workers at his store felt especially overworked and understaffed, he said. The lines at the EMU Starbucks can be so long that customers wait 40 to 50 minutes on a busy day, Weiss said.
“What we’re seeing right now nationally and in Eugene is a massive uprising in labor organizing. The UO student workers recognize the need for solidarity between different labor organizations, especially on campus,” UOSW staff organizer Mae Bracelin said.
Bracelin said individual workers are able to address problems in the workplace when organizing collectively without risking job security.
Starbucks barista Jake LaMourie assisted in the organizing of the first unionized store in Oregon, and said they were fired for their involvement. “Unions are all about being there for each other, you have different political groups here and we’re all showing up for each other, and that’s how you build power,” LaMourie said.
On Nov. 3, Workers United Labor Union International, the union Starbucks workers are organizing under, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming two Eugene Starbucks stores violated federal labor law when managers held mandatory meetings to discourage unionizing efforts away earlier this year.
The protesters concluded with a reminder of the next upcoming mass union meeting for Starbucks workers scheduled next month, Dec. 7 at Teamsters Labor Center, 711 Shelley St, Springfield, and encouraged all those with interest to attend and stand in solidarity.
