NYC Starbucks workers and 32BJ union strike at coffee giant for violating fair work law (EXCLUSIVE)

Dozens of fed-up Starbucks baristas trying to merge the New York coffee company are pledging Tuesday to file complaints about violations of the city’s laws governing fixed work hours.

This will be the first partnership between the fledgling Starbucks Workers United and 32BJ-SEIU, the largest service workers union in the country. To date, the new organization has had mixed results in its efforts to unionize the giant coffee corporation.

Of more than 15,000 Starbucks locations in the US, only a few places have voted to unionize. Prominent anti-union CEO Howard Schultz retired in 2022 after workers began organizing. He caught the attention of Senator Bernie Sanders, who criticized him in a January letter and demanded that he “immediately stop [his] aggressive and illegal campaign to destroy trade unions.”

FILE - Starbucks logo seen on storefront Friday, Oct 14, 2022, in Boston Starbucks reports financial earnings Thursday, Feb 2, 2023

Complaints from 27 baristas at 23 Starbucks locations in four of the five boroughs indicate they have grounds to complain to the city’s Department of Consumer and Employee Protection about violations of the Fair Work Week Act, a 32BJ spokesperson said. These include failure to adhere to the agreed schedule for workers, failure to pay allowances for opening and closing shifts, and not providing the first dibs for shifts to employees with seniority. The Big Apple has 275 Starbucks locations, more than any other city in the country.

“Multinational corporations like Starbucks have no excuse for not following the law. We urge the agency to seek full compliance from Starbucks and all other fast food companies doing business in our city,” 32BJ President Manny Pastreich wrote to the department. He said the union is considering possible violations in three more places.

Barista Lee Lambert, 22, said his hours had been reduced to an IV drip on Williams Street in the Financial District, from 8 to 25 hours a week to just 14 hours a week.

“All labor costs have been drastically reduced,” said Lambert, a recent graduate of Pace University. “Even as we return to a busier season. It was a heavy financial burden for all of us.”

Under the Workweek Act, a company cannot reduce an employee’s work hours by 15% or more without good cause or “legitimate business reason”.

As leftist Vermont arsonist Sanders pointed out in his letter, Seattle-based Starbucks made $3.3 billion in profits in the first nine months of 2022.

Lambert, who said he enjoys the job and enjoys interacting with the public, also faced a erratic work schedule that made it difficult for him to schedule visits to his family in Philadelphia.

“The specific shifts that I’m usually placed on, or one of our partners, tend to vary greatly from week to week,” he said. “It becomes difficult for me to plan work because I never know when I will be at work.”

Lee Lambert, 22, is a Starbucks employee who plans to file a fair work week law complaint against the coffee company on Tuesday.

The labor law requires employers to pay higher rates for shifts that involve opening and closing stores during the day, but Lambert said he is always paid the same amount.

“I’ve been working on a few Clopins,” he said, using the slang term for opening and closing. “Five weeks in a row I opened pretty regularly and I never got paid for it.”

On another occasion, Lambert was supposed to be working on the day he told the manager that he had a doctor’s appointment. He was allowed not to work, but the shift was not closed.

This isn’t the first time Starbucks has been accused of playing with office hours.

In September, a workers’ advocacy agency filed a complaint against the company for violating the Fair Work Week Act when it fired union organizer Austin Locke after employees voted to join a union at an Astoria store.

A Starbucks spokesperson said the company is trying to comply with the city’s rules on working hours.

“We are working hard and investing significant resources to ensure that partner scheduling practices are in line with New York’s Fair Work Week Law,” spokesman Andrew Trull said.

In August, the city settled with Chipotle for $20 million for 13,000 workers alleging violations of workweek and sick leave laws.

Lambert said he knows there are other opportunities, but he loves the job and doesn’t think he’ll have to leave because of scheduling difficulties.

“I love working at Starbucks. I like the people with whom I work. I like making drinks. I like talking to people,” he said. “But I can’t do this job if I don’t have the right schedule, if I’m not paid properly.

“So I don’t want to look for another job, and I shouldn’t. So that’s part of why we fight.”

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