Starbucks Workers Strike at Dozens of Stores Nationally, 17 Nov 2022

... Starbucks employees went on strike ... at dozens of unionized locations nationwide, citing what they say is the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith and anti-union tactics like firings and store closings.

... "Starbucks has left behind the very values that drew many of us to the company in the first place," Michelle Eisen, a worker who helped organize the first of more than 250 locations that have unionized over the past year, said in a statement. "You cannot be pro-L.G.T.B.Q., pro-B.L.M., pro-sustainability, and anti-union. This Red Cup Day, we’re organizing for a voice on the job and a true seat at the table."

... Starbucks said it was aware that “union demonstrations are scheduled at a small number of our more than 9,000 U.S. company-owned stores.” The company added that it respected the right of its employees, whom it calls partners, to engage in lawful protests, but that its focus was “uplifting the Starbucks experience for our partners and customers.”

... The company has walked out of many of the sessions, asserting that worker representatives are violating agreed-upon ground rules by seeking to broadcast the sessions using video-chat software.

... a Buffalo-area worker involved in the union campaign, denied that representatives were seeking to broadcast bargaining sessions, saying the purpose of the video feed was to include workers who could not attend in person, an accommodation many companies have made since the start of the pandemic.