More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas across 75 U.S. stores have officially gone on strike. They are fighting back against their company’s sudden adoption of a dress code. The strike started at midnight on Sunday. Workers filed the complaint while protesting the company’s new uniform regulations, which they claim problematically mandate workers to wear a non-transparent solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms.
The revised dress code affects employees at all company-owned and licensed stores in the United States and Canada. Under the new policy, Starbucks has imposed restrictions on the clothing that baristas are allowed to wear under their trademark green aprons. The company’s sudden decision to begin enforcing these new restrictions has sparked widespread outrage among the company’s workers.
The union representing Starbucks workers has responded by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. They claim that the company has bargained in bad faith by refusing to negotiate about the new dress code. This latest relocation highlights the deepening rift between the corporation and its workforce over CEO Starbucks’ draconian workplace policies.
Starbucks works with a third-party vendor to provide a range of branded clothing that Starbucks employees can purchase through the company’s intranet. Ironically though, work dress codes have largely made it impossible for employees to wear clothing like this and work. Those same products are still actively for sale on this website.
“Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code.” – Paige Summers
Striking baristas from 75 stores is a substantial number, making for the largest showing of solidarity among employees. And they say that the new dress code doesn’t respond to their input. This, they argue, quashes their freedom to express their individuality in the workplace.
In response to the strike, Starbucks released a statement emphasizing that thousands of its partners were prepared to serve customers during the week of the strike. The company painted itself as wanting to work together, calling on the union to come back and negotiate a fair contract.
“Thousands of Starbucks partners came to work this week ready to serve their customers and communities. It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table to finalize a reasonable contract.” – Starbucks company statement
As the strike continues, it remains to be seen how Starbucks will address the concerns raised by its employees and whether negotiations will resume in an effort to resolve the ongoing dispute over the dress code and other workplace policies.
