Small group of Starbucks employees go on strike in Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Thousands of Starbucks employees in over 100 stores across the country, including Colorado, were on strike Thursday demanding that the company fully staff all union stores and begin bargaining in good faith.

Four locations in Colorado participated in the strike, including the stores on Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs, Cherry Creek in Denver, Rock Creek Circle in Superior, and 11th Avenue in Greeley.

Workers are calling it the “Red Cup Rebellion” as the strikes were planned to happen on the same day as the company’s “Red Cup Day” in which it offers customers a branded Starbucks cup with select purchases.

“Today is the busiest day of the year at Starbucks, so they’re losing a lot of profit today,” said Jacob, an employee at the Starbucks on Garden of the Gods road in Colorado Springs. “So, hopefully they can actually listen to us, and listen to us when we request to get a bargaining session just to ask for bare minimum rights and pay.”

Jacob echoes a similar sentiment as other Starbucks employees across the country who say that the company continues to cancel bargaining sessions with unionized employees.

“I don’t feel like people should be saying that production is growing, and business is growing but no one is being compensated for it,” said Olivia, another employee at the Garden of the Gods location. “The drinks are being charged up 14 times the price, like none of this is ethical, none of this is right.”

In a statement released Thursday, the company said:

“We remain committed to all partners and will continue to work together, side-by-side, to make Starbucks a company that works for everyone.”

Read more on the nationwide impact here.

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