St. Paul Starbucks workers’ strike, walk off job Thursday

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Starbucks employees at Snelling Avenue location in St. Paul walked off the job Thursday, picketing out front and forcing the store to close operations.

The protest comes one year after workers say they voted to unionize, but had their union bulletin board "unlawfully removed" by store management. 

According to a press release, "the strike is part of the workers’ larger fight, demanding basic rights like livable wages with consistent scheduling, safe and respectful workplaces, full staffing, and the right to organize free from fear and intimidation."

Starbucks Workers United represents more than 300 Starbucks locations, and nearly 8,000 workers. 

The strike today is expected to last through 4 p.m. and continue to affect store operations.

FOX 9 reached out to Starbucks for comment, which responded with the following statement: "Locally, Starbucks has continued to engage with Workers United representatives to move the bargaining process forward for partners at each represented store in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. To-date, Starbucks has proposed six single-store bargaining sessions for local represented stores and has appeared in-person for the three bargaining sessions Workers United confirmed. Notably, Starbucks appeared in-person for a first bargaining session for the Snelling Avenue store on Oct. 26, 2022. Unfortunately, Workers United representatives refused to bargain without unilateral preconditions, including hybrid bargaining - demands that are inconsistent with decades of NLRB precedent… Rather than publicizing rallies and protests, we encourage Workers United to live up to their obligations by meeting us in-person to discuss these subjects and to move the good faith bargaining process forward."