In this urgent episode of Working People, we get an update on Starbucks’ escalating retaliation against pro-union workers and Starbucks Workers United. As Rina Torchinsky writes for NPR, “Starbucks is closing a store in Ithaca, NY, in what Starbucks union organizers are calling an illegal move of retaliation after workers at the location voted to unionize. The coffee giant gave the employees at the College Ave. location near Cornell University a one-week notice of the closure, the union says, with the store slated to permanently close on June 10. The coffee giant has said the decision to close the store was unrelated to the unionization effort.” In this mini-cast, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez talks with Nadia Vitek, a partner at the College Ave. location and a worker-organizer with Starbucks Workers United, about the sudden decision to close the store and the mounting evidence that this is an illegal act of retaliation meant to send a chilling message to pro-union workers around the country.
Additional links/info below…
- Starbucks Workers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram
- Union Election Data: Current Starbucks Statistics
- Rina Torchinsky, NPR, “Starbucks Union Says the Coffee Giant Is Closing a Store to Retaliate“
- Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “The Historic, Youthful, Rank-and-File Movement to Unionize Starbucks“
- Paul Blest, VICE News, “Lateness, Cursing, a Broken Sink: Starbucks Keeps Firing Pro-Union Employees“
Permanent links below…
- Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
- Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive at freemusicarchive.org):
- Jules Taylor, “Working People Theme Song”
Pre-Production/Studio: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The transcript of this podcast will be made available as soon as possible.
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.