Workers at a Starbucks Corp. in Ann Arbor walked off the job again on Friday morning and plan to stay on strike through Sunday following what union organizers call retaliatory measures and a denial of union representation.þþThe action happened after the company on Thursday fired a colleague and union organizer at the store in the Glencoe Crossing Shopping Center off Washtenaw Avenue. In addition to her reinstatement, employees are demanding the repeal of some other corrective actions against workers and that the company come to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract.þþÿIf anything, they've unleased a beast with my store,ÿ said Sasha Anisimova, 26, of Ypsilanti, who was terminated. ÿThey're displaying it's more than just me. It's a whole union of workers.ÿþþThe Detroit News sent an inquiry to Starbucks' press communications on Friday morning seeking comment about the strike.þþIt's the second strike at the 4585 Washtenaw Ave. location in as many months after the Starbucks store was one of the first in Michigan to unionize in June, a milestone in a labor movement sweeping the country as workers demand better pay and treatment amid a labor shortage and high inflation.þþAnisimova planned the first strike early last month in protest of the Seattle-based coffee shop chain delaying wage raises for employees at unionized stores and of Starbucks unilaterally lengthening store hours without coming to the negotiating table.þþShe said she received a call on Thursday from her store manager, who connected her with the interim district manager, with whom she says she'd never spoken to before. He informed her she was being terminated from her position as a partner — what Starbucks calls its employees.þþ“He read very clearly from a script from the company,” said Anisimova, who also is an organizer with Workers United. “He said a problem was brought forward, and the investigation was concluded.”þþShe said the manager cited ÿconcerning behavior and comments,ÿ but didn't provide specifics, and said she would receive a letter of termination in the mail.þþ“I have no clue what they terminated me for,” she said, adding she had no knowledge of an investigation. “They wouldn’t answer my questions. I said this is retaliation and union-busting.”þþAnisimova said she plans to file an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. A federal judge last month ordered Starbucks to reinstate employees it had fired in Memphis, Tennessee, who were involved in a union organizing drive.þþAnisimova said she previously was written up for a corrective action for not showing up to a shift after a miscommunication about the store being closed, but the issue was resolved after she employed Weingarten rights, or union representation, in meetings with management, and was able to show a text chain that resulted in the confusion.þþBut she says similar instances happened to other employees, who didn't receive their Weingarten rights.þþÿWe want change,ÿ she said. ÿWe will only get change through collective bargaining. They’ve stonewalled us.ÿþþbnoble@detroitnews.com
Source: detroitnews.com
