Colorado Springs Starbucks join nationwide strike
Colorado Springs, CO – On Saturday, December 21, the union workers of the Starbucks on Centennial Boulevard in Colorado Springs began a four-day strike as a part of the national Starbucks Workers United strike. Tiffany Sparks, a shift supervisor with nine years at Starbucks, and the store's current delegate to Starbucks Workers United, stated, “We just want better wages, more labor, better benefits and hundreds of unfair labor practices resolved.”
On Friday December 20, Starbucks Workers United began striking because of Starbucks’ “failure to bring viable economic proposals to the bargaining table and to resolve hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges,”, according to a statement released by the union, December 19.
“Starbucks has a history of union busting and is trying to silence our union, so we are fighting for protected actions that are causing people to get fired or written up. We just got a 15-cent raise and our new CEO Brian Niccol is making $57,000 an hour,” explained Sparks.
Sparks’ store is one of over 300 who joined in the strike over the week. “We have definitely made an impact here – on the first day they were not able to open, and on the second day they only had the drive through open, so we’re definitely knocking out their channels.” During the second day 110, cars drove up to the drive through and 76 of them were turned away.
Asked how the public could support the strike, Sparks said, “If you see a picket line, don’t cross it. I know it’s really hard to go without your coffee in the morning, but these are people’s livelihoods, and on top of that, the unions in general need support. We are all four days of sick time away from not being able to pay rent.” Across the duration of the strike, people from the wider community dropped off water and food, and even joined the picket line.