Employees at several Louisville-area Starbucks coffee shops take part in national strike
Three Starbucks coffee shops in the Louisville area were among more than 100 that joined a national strike Wednesday.
Two of the locations are in Louisville – at 12911 Factory Lane and at 872 Baxter Ave. – while a third is across the river in Clarksville, Indiana, at 1231 Veterans Parkway, according to a map provided by the Starbucks Workers United union.
The strike was set to be in effect from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. An email provided by the union said the work stoppage was taking place "in protest of gross violations of labor law committed by the corporation."
BREAKING: Workers at over 100+
Starbucks stores across the country are striking to demand an end to Starbucks' illegal union-busting campaign. While the company keeps a metaphorical 'empty chair' for us in the boardroom, we're demanding a real seat at the table! #StarbucksStrike— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) March 22, 2023
This is not the first time at least one local Starbucks store has participated in a strike. Workers at the Factory Lane coffee shop took part in a walkout last November on Red Cup Day, a busy day for the company where reusable cups are given to some customers. Those local employees were among more than 100 stores to join that strike.
Wednesday's strike coincided with an announcement that workers at two other local Starbucks shops had filed for union elections – employees at a store in downtown Louisville, at 3103 S. Third St. as well as a location in Elizabethtown, at 1703 N. Dixie Highway. The effort in Elizabethtown is the first in the Bluegrass State outside of Louisville, according to a release from Workers United's Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board.
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Workers at nearly 300 Starbucks locations across the U.S. have voted to unionize, according to the National Labor Relations Board, after employees at a store in Buffalo, New York, were the first to do so in late 2021. The unionizing effort at the Third Street shop is the fifth in Louisville.
Earlier this week, Laxman Narasimhan assumed the role of CEO at Starbucks, the Associated Press reported, replacing interim CEO Howard Schultz, the company's longtime leader who came out of retirement last September to take on the role during a search for a full-time replacement.
There are at least 40 Starbucks stores in Louisville and Southern Indiana, according to a map from the corporation.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Starbucks strike Wednesday includes workers at 3 Louisville-area shops
