Starbucks workers and allies rallied outside the company’s headquarters on Monday, protesting abrupt store closures they say reflect the company’s disregard for its hometown employees.
Why it matters: The closures — which included two of Seattle’s most recognizable Starbucks locations — are the latest flashpoint in a nationwide labor battle between the coffee giant and its unionized baristas.
Catch up quick: Starbucks recently shuttered the Capitol Hill Reserve Roastery and SoDo Reserve locations overnight.
- Some workers said they learned of the closures from social media or a brief pre-recorded message, according to Starbucks Workers United.
- The union says the company is not reassigning jobless workers to nearby stores as in the past.
- “It’s crazy to wake up and learn from social media that you lost your job before your company tells you,” Trent Lytle-Hogue, a former Roastery barista, said in a statement.
By the numbers: Starbucks said last month it would close stores and lay off 900 corporate employees in a $1 billion restructuring plan…