(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) - Multiple leaders of the Starbucks Union Drive in Buffalo have been warned that they may be fired in the coming weeks as a result of policy shifts planned by Starbucks management after the first successful unionization effort at one of the company’s U.S. stores. 

The new rules appear to target several of the Starbucks Workers who led the organizing drive at Buffalo’s Elmwood location, Starbucks’ first Unionized store, and who now sit on the Union’s Bargaining Committee, as well as Workers who are leading the Union Push at other stores in the area.

Managers told Workers in several Buffalo stores - including Elmwood that any Employee working less than 20 hours per week could be terminated, multiple sources tell More Perfect Union. 

A majority of the Union Leaders in the Elmwood store work fewer than 20 hours per week, the threshold for full-time benefits at the company.

The part-time schedule is typical for many Starbucks Employees, who frequently balance the work with other jobs, school, and family commitments.

These Workers include Jaz Brisack, Cassie Fleischer and Kellen Montanye, who’ve been prominent faces of the Union Movement and sit on the Bargaining Committee.

It would also impact leaders of the Organizing Committee at the Delaware and Chippewa store in Buffalo, which recently announced its intention to Unionize.

A representative for Starbucks denied there is a new 20-hour rule and said that managers were “having conversations with Partners about their availability” - in light of an increase in Workers asking to reduce their hours.

The managers, Starbucks said, are asking Workers to expand their availability in order to keep the business running. 

Starbucks is under pressure to negotiate with the newly-Unionized Employees, as is required by Labor Law.

The company has thus far only had one sit-down conversation with the Workers.

Firing some of them could be part of an effort to stall the negotiations and prevent Workers from achieving a first contract.

Workers noted the number of Staff at their locations was supersized during the Union Campaign and more hours were made available during the Holiday Season, when stores are at their busiest and most profitable.

Starbucks also gave stores extra hours to distribute to new Workers during the Fall, one Worker told More Perfect Union, but stripped them away some time after the Elmwood store voted to Unionize in early December.

They estimate that they’d have 10 to 14 Workers on the floor during a shift that would normally have five to eight on duty.

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