BLOOMINGTON Minn. Some baristas at a Starbucks unit in Minnesota’s Mall of America stopped working briefly on Monday to protest the coffeehouse giant’s plans to close 600 stores across the nation. The protesters delivered a letter to their manager demanding a severance package for laid-off workers and an option to transfer to other stores, among other things.
About half of the store’s 13 employees later agreed to join the Starbucks Workers Union, which is affiliated with the New York-based Industrial Workers of the World, a union spokesman said.
AStarbucks spokeswoman said in a statement that the IWW’s demands were actions that the company had already committed to taking to help employees at stores tagged for closure.
When Starbucks announced its plans, chief executive Howard Schultz said in a letter to employees that the company would try to offer affected workers positions in nearby units and that a severance payment would be made to those who could not be placed.
Starbucks’ recent announcement about plans to close stores includes 27 in Minnesota, where baristas are paid a minimum of $7.60 an hour, the union said.
The Mall of America’s online store directory lists two Starbucks spots. Neither of those units was included in the complete list of store closures that Starbucks released last week.
The IWW Starbucks Workers Union launched its employee recruitment campaign in May 2004 and said it now has more than 200 members throughout the United States who are “united for secure work hours and a living wage.” The union has been active in recruiting in New York City, Chicago and Grand Rapids, Mich.