FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2022
Starbucks’ NYC Roastery on Strike for Ten Days – Management Has Not Provided a Health and Safety Inspection Report or Contract Bargaining Date
New York, NY: The NYC Roastery has been on strike for ten days now over an urgent health and safety issue.
Yesterday, Workers United filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board asking it to investigate the NYC Roastery over its allegation that the company’s failure to provide information violated the law. Management confirmed that there had been prior reporting of the presence of bed bugs, and have said that they have remediated the issue. The Union has requested information (the inspection or remediation report), per its legal right, so that workers can make decisions regarding their health and safety. Management has thus far failed to provide this information. The charge will be investigated.
Workers United, the union representative of the workers, has filed an OSHA complaint against the facility requesting an inspection, which is pending. Workers have picketed daily outside the location at 61 Ninth Avenue, Manhattan since Tuesday October 25th. Press and supporters are welcomed to join.
Workers have received strong community support as well as support from elected officials. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Roastery, state Senator Jessica Ramos, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, and Councilmembers Carmen De La Rosa and Marjorie Velázquez have written letters directly to Roastery management urging the company to meet workers’ demands regarding health and safety, including the release of information regarding the health and safety inspection and remediation. None have received a response. Over the weekend, the NYC Public Advocate stopped by the picket line to show his support, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand both tweeted their support of the strike.
In October, Workers United filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board asking it to investigate the allegation that the NYC Roastery has delayed acknowledging the demand to bargain and providing bargaining dates. The charge is under investigation. This week, the workers continued to demand a bargaining date but the NYC Roastery has not yet responded.
The workers at the Roastery won their union election on April 1st, 2022, making history as the first flagship store and the first store in NYC to unionize with Workers United. The most recent store to file for a union election in downstate NY is the Starbucks with AmazonGo in Times Square. There are currently twelve unionized Starbucks locations in downstate NY, including seven in NYC, and more than 250 union locations around the country. None currently have a contract.
“I believe striking is setting a precedent for all 250+ stores around the country who are unionized, many of which are dealing with alleged Unfair Labor Practices. In addition, setting standards that we the workers DEMAND to be met at the bargaining table, is putting continuous pressure on management to bargain in good faith – a legally required practice that we are alleging that corporate has refused to participate in. This treatment is unfair and from speaking to several customers on the street it is one of the many reasons people are losing interest in the company as a whole.” – Ashley Carrigan, partner of 4.5 years
*Photos of the strike are available upon request*
Twitter / Instagram / Facebook: @SBWorkersUnited @WorkersUnitedNY
Contact: Leanne Tory-Murphy, leanne@workersunitednynj.org, 929-630-4291
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