Wednesday, October 13, 2021

"Starbucks has temporarily closed two stores involved in a union drive in Buffalo, New York"

Vice:

The company said that the two temporary store closures in Buffalo have nothing to do with the union drive—one is for a remodel and the other is for training new hires.

...

[A Starbucks spokesman] said the decision to close the location indefinitely and use it as a "training store" was a response to complaints from workers during "listening sessions" the company held in response to the union drive that they weren't receiving enough training—and had been stung by bees for months at the location. 

Meanwhile, in Connecticut:

In less than two weeks, a tiny group of a half dozen workers in Barkhamsted, Connecticut will vote on whether to become the only unionized Dollar General store employees in America. 

...

According to the employee, the union drive came about in September as a result of poor treatment of employees by a Dollar General district manager. The employee said that the district manager ignored a complaint of sexual harassment in the store, and was heard making racist remarks about the store’s manager. When the district manager unfairly accused the store’s manager of stealing, the employee said, ​“We all got scared. If they could do something like this to someone who didn’t do anything, what could they do to us?”