Long Beach Baristas To Walk Off The Job Thursday

LONG BEACH, CA — Baristas at one Long Beach Starbucks are scheduled to walk off the job on Thursday as part of an ongoing dispute with the coffee giant over better work conditions and benefits for employees.

Starbucks workers are set to strike as part of a nationwide Red Cup Rebellion, demanding that the company stop illegally refusing to bargain with employees over staffing, scheduling and other issues, the union for workers said in a news release on Wednesday.

In Long Beach, workers at the Starbucks at 3390 East 7th St. will be walking out as part of the strike.

The strike comes on Red Cup Day, when the company hands out tens of thousands of free reusable cups, one of its busiest customer traffic days of the year, the union said. As part of the strike, workers will demand Starbucks turn off mobile ordering on future promotion days, which company executives are scheduling with increasing frequency.

"We remain committed to working with all partners, side-by-side, to elevate the everyday, and we hope that Workers United’s priorities will shift to include the shared success of our partners and working to negotiate contracts for those they represent," Starbucks said in a statement. "Starbucks has a long history of surprising and delighting our customers with periodic offers and promotions such as Double Star Days, Thurs-yays, and Red Cup Day."

According to a news release, the Red Cup Rebellion is expected to draw in students and customers, who are increasingly calling on the company to live up to its progressive values and listen to workers who are demanding the company respect their right to a union and bargain a fair contract.

Earlier this week, students at UCLA introduced a resolution at the student council calling on the administration to kick Starbucks off of campus as a consequence of its illegal union busting, which has resulted in administrative law judges finding the company has broken the law more than 270 times, union officials said in the news release.