Philly’s unionized Starbucks workers shut down five stores on Sunday

Workers at five of Philadelphia’s eight unionized Starbucks locations went on strike Sunday.

The locations affected were at 10th and Market Streets, 20th and Market Streets, Penn Medicine, Broad and Spring Garden Streets, and Ninth and South Streets, according to Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents employees of those stores.

The Starbucks at 10th and Market was closed all day; the other four locations shuttered after the morning rush.

A picket line formed at the 10th and Market store, which voted to unionize in March.

“It was definitely a very lively picket, one of the biggest ones we’ve had in Philly so far,” said Casey Moore, a spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United.

The one-day action was in response to a Philadelphia store manager’s reaction to an earlier work stoppage, when workers allegedly faced threats and intimidation during the strike, she said.

The five-store strike coincided with the union’s 13-city bus tour stopping in Philadelphia and was one of several actions by Starbucks Workers United in the city this weekend.

On Saturday, the Starbucks workers joined unionized UPS workers as they canvassed South Philadelphia, ahead of a possible strike by UPS Teamsters if they do not have a new contract by Aug. 1.

Later in the day, Starbucks workers rallied at City Hall, calling for a coffee shop at Dilworth Park that serves Starbucks products to stop doing so because of Starbucks management’s alleged union-busting behaviors.

Starbucks has faced hundreds of unfair labor practice charges throughout the United States, including in Philadelphia. None of the more than 300 unionized cafes has reached a contract with the company. Both the company and the union have accused the other of holding up contract negotiations.

One point of disagreement is whether bargaining should take place entirely in-person, as Starbucks has said it should, versus a hybrid format allowing some to attend sessions virtually.

The union would also prefer to hold national sessions to negotiate workplace issues that affect employees at all stores, Moore said, instead of negotiating for each bargaining unit separately.

“While we respect our partners’ right to engage in protest activities, we encourage Workers United to live up to their obligations by meeting us in-person at the bargaining table,” Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said.

“Starbucks has proposed to meet in-person multiple times to begin negotiations toward a first contract for partners at each of our Philadelphia area stores, but Workers United representatives have consistently ignored our proposals,” Tull said.

Moore said the union has presented Starbucks with bargaining proposals and hasn’t received any counter-proposals.

All five locations were open for business on Monday morning.