Sam Amico
One Starbucks employee organized a union and got canned, and now the City of New York is suing.
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Austin Loke was a longtime barista at the coffee behemoth. He was fired just a few weeks after he and coworkers voted to unionize their Queens location. That store was just one of the dozens that voted to unionize, actually.
Of course, Starbucks didn’t come out and say that organizing a union was the reason for his dismissal. But based on the lawsuit, New York City clearly believes differently.
Union Claims Starbucks Is Illegally Shutting Down A New York Cafe To Retaliate
Per CNBC:
“Starbucks had said that Locke was fired for failing to fill out a Covid-19 questionnaire and falsely reporting that a supervisor made physical contact with him, according to the city’s lawsuit. The missteps were reportedly confirmed by surveillance footage, but the suit states that Locke’s district and store manager did not let him see that footage. Locke’s shifts were canceled, and he filed a complaint to the city days later.”
A Starbucks refused to comment to CNBC. They noted the store intends to “defend against the alleged violations of the New York City Just Cause Law.”
The city is actually aiming to get Locke reinstated to his old position as part of the lawsuit. Not to mention award him with backpay.
“It’s been a year since the campaign with Starbucks Workers United began at a Starbucks in Buffalo, NY,” Locke said in a statement released by the city. “There are now 235 unionized Starbucks around the country. Starbucks continues to wrongfully fire pro-union workers nationwide in retaliation for union organizing.”
Interestingly, well-known former CEO Howard Schultz has returned to Starbucks. He is the interim CEO during the current labor push. Schultz was the company’s CEO during its massive growth period from 1986-2000, then again from 2008-17.
