BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — State Senator Tim Kennedy joined Starbucks workers Saturday in Buffalo calling for a national boycott of the company.
Protestors joined Saturday outside the Starbucks store on Delaware Avenue at Chippewa protesting what they call is Starbucks’ union-busting campaign.
According to Starbucks Workers United, Allegra Anastasia, an eight-year shift supervisor at that location was fired on Friday for being a few minutes late to work. The union says the real reason is Anastasia was leading a unionizing effort. Meanwhile, Starbucks says the company stands by its decision for firing her for being late to work.
“I was the tenth person to be fired yesterday at 8 a.m. in the middle of running my shift and it was really emotional and I was very distraught about it but I’m so happy that everybody here is supportive,” Anastasia said.
More on Starbucks unionization
“Since these workers have stepped up and taken action in Buffalo over 200 stores in this great country have begun to organize and it’s a message from the workers that they should be taken seriously, that they should be treated with respect and the dignity they earn everyday and that they rightfully deserve,” Sen. Kennedy said.
According to the workers union, the National Labor Relations Board is currently prosecuting Starbucks for over 200 violations of labor law in Western New York.