Starbucks Workers In Meatpacking District End Bed Bug Inspired Strike

MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NY — Nearly 50 days after Starbucks employees from a Meatpacking District location went on strike, the workers voted to return on Monday with promises made from management about better conditions surrounding mold and beg bugs.

The workers at the NYC Reserve Roastery at 61 Ninth Ave. initially went on strike because of "a genuine response to the fear of bed bugs as well as other health and safety concerns like mold in the ice machine."

Here is what the workers said they won during the strike.

• The Department of Agriculture will inspect the ice machines for mold and have been instructed to maintain regular cleaning. A wall where mold was found will also be torn down and replaced.
• After meeting with Starbucks lawyers and health and safety experts three times — as well as seeing dozens of pest inspection reports from Starbucks lawyers — the workers are "under the impression" that these inspections will continue Monday through Friday. Additionally, there will be a dog-leg bed bug inspection give tat the pests were found as recently as Nov. 30, according to the Starbucks workers.
• There will be new health and safety trainings for workers and managers.
• Starbucks workers have formed a Health and Safety Committee.

"The work isn’t over. We need to continue to hold management accountable, and being back inside we will all do that as partners, together," NYC Roastery workers wrote in a news release. "We are excited to return to work, but we recognize that our fight as a unionized store has just begun."

NYC Reserve Roastery became the first New York City Starbucks to unionize earlier in 2022.

The Meatpacking District store is one of three Roastery locations in the country. Roastery locations are larger than regular Starbucks and serve a wider selection of menu items.