According to BBC report, Starbucks employee “Joselyn Chuquillanqui had worked for Starbucks for nearly seven years when the company fired her last month." Even as staff at roughly 220 Starbucks stores across the United States have voted to unionise, making unexpectedly successful inroads at the popular chain of coffee shops, as per the report.
The BBC report further informed that though Joselyn Chuquillanqui “liked her job as a barista, which gave her flexibility to care for her young niece, this winter the 28-year-old had tried to rally her co-workers in New York to join a labour union, frustrated by the company's stance on sick leave during the pandemic."
“Soon after, she says her boss started punishing her for infractions overlooked in others, like arriving a few minutes late for her 5:30am shift. When she misplaced her key to the store in July, it appeared to be the last straw, though she told her manager immediately. The key was ultimately found inside the shop," the BBC report said. Interestingly, on her notice of separation, Starbucks reportedly cited a pattern of tardiness and the key incident, while she had worked for Starbucks since 2015. Joselyn Chuquillanqui said, "it was definitely some type of retaliation. I've never seen anyone be fired for being under five minutes late."
“Union organisers say Joselyn's clash was part of a national crackdown in which more than 75 union activists have been fired and some stores closed as the company, which has touted itself as a progressive workplace, tries to stop the labour movement troubling its ranks. Starbucks, which owns nearly 9,000 stores in the US and licenses thousands more, denies retaliation. The firm says it respects workers' right to organise, and closed stores based on safety records. But there is little doubt that it sees the union as a threat," as per BBC report.
Meanwhile, Starbucks, facing a growing union push across its cafes, is appealing to the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that government employees interfered with and influenced election results in certain stores, according to Bloomberg report.
(With inputs from BBC, Bloomberg)
