Erb Memorial Union Starbucks workers were forced to close early on Tuesday after a staffing shortage left them unable to keep running the store.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., the two remaining employees were handing out free food and airing grievances against Starbucks corporate management, whom they blamed for the early closure.
Garret Lacy, one of the two employees, said that the location’s closing shift supervisor had called in sick that day. With no store manager or proxy manager available, there was no one left to perform administrative tasks or handle customer complaints. This isn’t a rare occurrence for the store, either –– in fact, the same thing had occurred the day before.
Lacy said he was frustrated by what he saw as an ongoing and preventable issue.
“I got here at 11:15 and I was supposed to work until 5, but I’m probably out of here by 2,” Lacy said. “I’m trying to get hours so I can pay rent and buy food, but when I’m only getting scheduled 20 hours a week when I want more, and then it’s getting cut down from that, it’s a strain.”
Lacy said he spoke directly to the EMU Starbucks district manager, Thomas Finley, about applying for a shift supervisor position to take on some of the work himself. But when he discovered there were no openings available, Lacy received no further response.
Madie Holst, Lacy’s co-worker, has been working at various Starbucks locations along the West Coast for six years. She said this is the most poorly-run store she’s ever worked at.
“Starbucks doesn’t respect our time,” Holst said. “We’re the highest-grossing store in the district, but we’re treated like the worst.”
The EMU Starbucks has long been a site of contention between unionized workers and management. Workers from the location have gone on strike numerous times, including in March, when a seven-year employee was abruptly fired.
Holst cited the unionization efforts as one reason for tensions between managers and employees.
“Currently there’s only three store managers in the entire district because everyone is jumping ship,” Holst said. “So [closing early] is a weekly thing for us.”
The early closures also negatively impact customers. Holst and Lacy said that Starbucks often delays or outright refuses to turn off mobile orders for the location, which can lead customers who pay through the app to lose money on unfilled orders.
“We either don’t do their orders because we’re closing and waste their money and we get yelled at by the customers, or the district manager calls and asks why we aren’t making the orders,” Lacy said.
Starbucks workers will protest in front of the EMU on August 2 at 11:30 a.m. in support of better working conditions.
Finley declined to comment for this article.
