GREELEY, Colo. — Workers at Greeley Starbucks are joining other workers from across the country for a three-day strike in protest of what they believe are unfair labor practices by the coffee giant.
Employees of the store 11th Avenue announced their intent to strike to management Friday morning, according to a release from Starbucks Workers United. They will hit the picket line Friday through Sunday, Dec. 18. They'll be out between 7 a.m. and 12 pm. each day concluding with a noon rally.
The union has accused the chain of closing union stores in retaliation, including a location in Colorado Springs.
Workers at a store on Centennial Boulevard in Colorado Springs are also participating, according to the union.
More than 264 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize since late last year.
Starbucks opposes the unionization effort, saying the company functions better when it works directly with employees. But the company said last month that it respects employees’ lawful right to protest.
Starbucks Workers United represents over 270 locations accounting for nearly 8,000 workers in the country.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, Workers United has filed at least 446 unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks since late last year, including that the company fired labor organizers and refused to bargain. The company, meanwhile, has filed 47 charges against the union, among them allegations that it defied bargaining rules when it recorded sessions and posted the recordings online.
Starbucks and the union have begun contract talks in about 50 stores but no agreements have been reached.
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