San Antonio Starbucks union alleges wrongful firing ahead of strikes
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A union leader at a San Antonio Starbucks store says he was wrongfully fired, the fourth person the union claims has unfairly lost their job at the same location one year after forming a union.
Driving the news: The union says it has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over four firings.
What happened: Quinn Craig, former shift supervisor at the Loop 410 and Vance Jackson Road store, says he was the latest to be fired after employees walked out last month in protest of short staffing concerns. Management then "interrogated" Craig, per the union.
- Craig and the other fired workers, all active union organizers, accused the company of holding them to different standards than other employees who opposed the union.
What they're saying: "My co-workers just couldn't believe that management would be so vindictive as to do it on our one year" anniversary of certifying the union, Craig said in a statement.
- "Quinn is now left without not only his job, but his healthcare, access to therapy, dental and college education. All benefits Starbucks flaunts to draw workers in. Benefits that are threatened the moment anyone even tries to unionize," Spencer Huber, a barista and organizing committee member at the Loop 410 and Vance Jackson Road location, said in a statement.
The other side: "Counter to claims made by Workers United, two partners were recently separated from our 410 and Vance Jackson store for clear violations of established cash-handling and workplace violence policies and failure to adhere to store alarm protocols — not in retaliation for their participation in, or support of, any concerted union activities," Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull told Axios in a statement.
Be smart: Union activity, including strikes, is protected by federal law. It's illegal for an employer to fire or discipline an employee for engaging in such activities.
Flashback: The Loop 410 and Vance Jackson Road store was the first Starbucks in Texas to unionize last summer, organizers have said.
- Starbucks workers at a store in Buffalo, New York, were the first at the company to form a union in December 2021.
- Since then, more than 250 Starbucks stores across the country have unionized, per the Buffalo News.
Meanwhile, the union planned strikes at two San Antonio Starbucks stores this week.
The big picture: Workers at the Wurzbach Parkway and Blanco Road (North Side) and Houston and St. Mary's streets (downtown) stores will join a nationwide series of strikes protesting Starbucks' treatment of LGBTQ+ employees. All four fired workers from the Loop 410 and Vance Jackson Road store identify as LGBTQ+.
- The national Starbucks union pointed to reported instances of banned Pride decorations in stores and said the company has not bargained in good faith with workers.
By the numbers: None of the 23 unionized Starbucks cafes in Texas has a labor contract with the company yet, per the union.
Zoom out: Strikes were planned at more than 150 Starbucks stores across the country, representing roughly 3,500 workers, Axios' Ivana Saric reports.
State of play: Starbucks disputed the accusations about Pride decor in a statement, saying the union had "knowingly, and recklessly, spread false information" and that there had been no change to company policy regarding Pride month decorations.
The bottom line: National disputes between Starbucks and union workers continue to play out locally in San Antonio, including accusations of illegal firings and interfering with workers' rights.