(AMHERST, NEW YORK) – Unionized Buffalo Starbucks Workers employed at the Suburban Buffalo Sheridan and Bailey store went on Strike today (Wednesday, March 22nd), joining more than 100 stores nationwide to demand basic rights like livable wages with consistent scheduling, safe and respectful workplaces, and the right to organize free from fear and intimidation.

The Strike comes a day before the company’s annual shareholder meeting. 

The Buffalo Strike is a part of a National Day of Action, where Starbucks Workers from coast to coast are coming together to make it impossible for Starbucks executives to ignore their demands for a seat at the table, Union Officials said.

Starbucks Workers in Seattle were scheduled to march outside the company’s Seattle headquarters in a major protest, declaring the Workers’ fight for the right to organize will not be stopped by the former Union-Busting CEO whose lawbreaking is coming under increased scrutiny.

Simultaneously, Workers from coast-to-coast are calling on Starbucks leaders to heed their calls for better working conditions and a voice on the job.

“We’re here and we’re still showing up. Starbucks - when will you start to show up for us?,” said Tati Gurskly, a Shift Supervisor who was wrongfully fired from the Sheridan and Bailey Store in Amherst in retaliation for their organizing efforts. 

The protest comes just one week before former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) about the illegal Anti-Union bullying campaign he spearheaded, which has included numerous Labor Law violations, according to several National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Judges.

Schultz only agreed to testify under threat of subpoena. 

Since December 2021, more than 7,000 Starbucks Workers have organized more than 280 stores across the country, demanding Starbucks respect Workers’ fundamental right to organize and bargain a fair contract with their Workers. 

In this same time period, the NLRB’s Regional Offices have issued more than 70 official complaints against Starbucks, prosecuting the company for over 1,300 specific alleged violations of Federal Labor Law, including accusations that former CEO Howard Schultz personally threatened a Worker who expressed support for organizing. 

To date, NLRB Administrative Law Judges have issued nine decisions, eight of which collectively found that the company has committed 130 violations, including illegally monitoring and firing Organizers, calling the Police on Workers, and outright closing a store that recently attempted to organize.

The day of action is the latest in a wave of activity aiming to hold Starbucks accountable to the progressive values it publicly purports to champion, Starbucks Workers United Representatives said. 

Last week, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez sent a letter to Schultz lambasting the company’s “blatant Anti-Union behavior” and calling on him to bargain in good faith with his Workers. 

Starbucks Workers United earlier this month sent a letter to shareholders urging them to vote for a third-party assessment of the company’s commitment to uphold Workers Rights, arguing Starbucks’ Anti-Union actions run counter to the company’s International Labor Organization commitments.

Two Proxy Advisory Firms, International Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, have already recommended Starbucks shareholders vote in favor of the proposal from Trillium Asset Management, the New York City Pension Funds and other investors.