Workers fighting to unionize the Biddeford Starbucks marked Labor Day by striking outside the coffee shop.
Five workers were joined by supporters from other unions for a one-day strike outside the Alfred Street location in the rain on Monday, according to the Portland Press Herald.
That comes as the workers accuse the Seattle-based coffee giant of engaging in anti-union activity, including throwing out union flyers, taking down posters about workers rights, retaliating against workers and cutting the location’s hours by closing at 3 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., the Press Herald reported.
“The union-busting campaign has gone on for too long now,” Starbucks worker and union organizer Ash Macomber told the Press Herald.
The coffee shop’s workers made news in May when they announced their intention to form a union, becoming the first in Maine and just the latest across the country to join a coast-to-coast organizing wave.
The workers cited a high turnover, less support for training and safety concerns as reasons to form a union. The shop voted 9-3 on July 14 to form a union.
Now the Starbucks on Middle Street in Portland has joined the Biddeford workers in seeking union recognition.
A Starbucks spokesperson told the Press Herald that store hours are determined by market conditions and that the national chain “respects” its workers while not responding to accusations of retaliation.
