Starbucks Fired Union Leader

I have worked for Starbucks, a company with a 90% local turnover rate, for five years. I am a full time student, and a full time supervisor, which means that I run the store, do inventory, and cash management. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the livable wage is currently considered to be $18.36 per hour. Most partners are not being paid enough to live. The wage discrepancies were a major motivation for me to organize my store, which was the first to file for a union election in this state. During the time of our campaign, I faced harassment from upper management and fear of retaliation. One of our partners on the organizing committee, Sharon Gilman, was fired in a retaliatory manner after a three compartment sink fell on her and the company claimed she did so intentionally to harm other partners. I also witnessed not one but three unlawful labor practices, testified in court against my company and won our case, which was historic as the NLRB had never granted a new election to a store under the premise of a ULP ever before in the US. I was considered the lead organizer to this day, had given interviews with multiple national publications, and been on the cover of a local publication, IndyWeek. I also was invited to give a speech with the Poor People’s Campaign, a movement which was founded by MLK. It was the very first speech I had ever given, and was given to a crowd of hundreds of people downton. Clips of my speech have gone viral, and one in particular is sitting at 1.4 million views. I’ve given several speeches since then, mainly for other labor organizing groups such as Raise Up and Fight for $15. I led a strike at my work place in September, where 90% of the partners working that day either called out or walked out with us in solidarity. To say that Starbucks is aware of me or my activities would be an understatement. Today, over a month later, I was fired for that strike. No other partners were targeted for exercising their right to strike. I am disappointed that after my years spent with Starbucks that they would choose to see me as a villain and not as someone who loved their job enough to speak up about what changes could make things better. I arrived at this store in August of 2021, and had never received a write-up or complaint from the company until I started organizing. No other stores had issues with my work ethic or reliability. One previous manager even referred to me as her “secret weapon”. I dedicated hours of my free time to installing murals on our community board that multiple corporate partners recognized as a benefit to customer connections and atmosphere at any store I worked at. I was nominated as Partner of the Quarter at every store I had been at previous to this location. I know that I am a good worker. In the hours before I was fired, I was making drinks during peak on drive bar while we were understaffed after two call-outs, and my manager had no shortage of compliments about my work ethic when I was making them money during the busiest part of our day on the busiest day of the week. They know I’m good at my job. I was their most senior partner at that location. That’s not their issue. Their issue is that I am well educated on my federal rights as a worker.  I am afraid for other workers across their country who are not aware of their rights and power. I will not stop helping them organize and will continue to fight for the respect and dignity that workers deserve, regardless of the illegal consequences I faced today. This Gofundme is meant to be a safety net for me while the NLRB processes the charge against Starbucks related to my separation and while I look for another job. I will update with character statements from several partners I have worked with from different stores, including my most recent store.

Alyssa White