The employees of the Olney Starbucks location at 18606 Georgia Avenue, next to Roots Market, have been on strike since Friday, August 19th for a planned “worker’s strike weekend” that will last through Sunday, August 21st with the store reopening on Monday, August 22nd.
Per the employees, the goal of the strike is to pressure Starbucks to the bargaining table, support fellow union workers, connect with the community, and enact change in the workplace. “Our voices have remained unheard. Our need for adequate staffing, living, and to be respected as the partners, whom Starbucks both praises for marketing and exploits labor for their exploding profits.”
We spoke with an employee of the location who wants to be identified but just his first name, Will. He is in charge of opening the store on most mornings and tells us that due to various reasons including summer coming to an end and other employees going back to school, the store has gone from 16 baristas down to just 7. ““We believe in the company and we want it to be good for everyone. They call us partners, but a lot of times we don’t feel like partners.” Will told us.
Will says he know this strike isn’t just going to fix everything, but it’s a start to take away the three most profitable days from the store to show them how important the employees really are. “People want to work in a place where they’re valued…at the end of the day we’re all human beings.”
Back on May 20, employees of the Starbucks at 16806 Georgia Ave in Olney voted 9-4 in favor of unionizing, according to a tweet by Starbucks Workers United. In April, employees of the store sent a letter to Starbucks President Howard Schultz announcing their intention to unionize, saying they had attempted on numerous occasions to communicate with management regarding their grievances but believe their concerns fell on deaf ears. The letter went on to say that the employees had, “grown increasingly exhausted and stressed, not to mention faced with constant, inconsistently enforced changes.”
