Starbucks Workers Strike, Media Forgets Corporate Anti-Union History
AP News casually reports on over 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers striking on 'Red Cup Day' across 65 U.S. stores, framing it as a protest over a 'lack of progress in labor negotiations.' What they neglect to heavily emphasize is Starbucks' long, aggressive history of alleged union-busting, including firing organizers and closing stores to stifle union efforts. The National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has repeatedly issued complaints against the company, citing hundreds of alleged labor law violations since late 2021. Instead of highlighting this pattern of corporate behavior that led to the 'lack of progress,' the story pivots to Starbucks' reassuring statement that 'the vast majority of its U.S. stores would be open.' One might wonder if the 'lack of progress' is a feature, not a bug,
of Starbucks' strategy, continually forcing workers to strike on high-volume days just to get a seat at the table. How many times does a company have to violate labor laws before the press calls it what it is?