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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA strike by Starbucks baristas protesting the company’s new dress code grew Thursday.
More than 2,000 Starbucks baristas at 120 U.S. stores have gone on strike since Sunday to protest the new dress code, according to Starbucks Workers United, a union representing the coffee giant’s U.S. workers.
Starbucks put new limits starting Monday on what its baristas can wear under their green aprons. The dress code requires employees at company-operated and licensed stores in the U.S. and Canada to wear a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms.
Under the previous dress code, baristas could wear a broader range of dark colors and patterned shirts. Starbucks said the new rules would make its green aprons stand out and create a sense of familiarity for customers as it tries to establish a warmer, more welcoming feeling in its stores.
But Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents workers at 570 of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, said the dress code should be subject to collective bargaining.
“Starbucks has lost its way. Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they are focused on all the wrong things, like implementing a restrictive new dress code,” said Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor from Hanover, Maryland. “Customers don’t care what color our clothes are when they’re waiting 30 minutes for a latte.”
Summers and others also criticized the company for selling styles of Starbucks-branded clothing that employees no longer are allowed to wear to work on an internal website. Starbucks said it would give two free black T-shirts to each employee when it announced the new dress code.
On Wednesday, Starbucks Workers Union said a total of 1,000 workers had staged walkouts at 75 U.S. stores. Starbucks said at the time that the strike was having a limited impact on its 10,000 company-operated U.S. stores. In some cases the strikes closed stores for less than an hour, the company said.
“It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table that they’re putting into protesting wearing black shirts to work,” Starbucks said in a statement. “More than 99% of our stores are open today serving customers—and have been all week.”
Associated Press readers who shared their opinions had mixed views of the dress code. Some said they didn’t think Starbucks’ baristas had much to complain about, noting that many retailers require their workers to dress a certain way. Others said they thought Starbucks should focus on improving the quality and prices of its beverages, and keeping workers happy instead of worrying about what its employees wear.
Maddie Mucklow, who manages a Starbucks store in Seattle, said she’s in favor of the new rules.
“I’ll be honest, I think the dress code was a difficult change for the partners at my store,” Mucklow said. “But the dress code gives us a more consistent boundary for how to show up best for each other while still expressing our individuality.”
Starbucks Workers United has been unionizing U.S. stores since 2021. Starbucks and the union have yet to reach a contract agreement, despite agreeing to return to the bargaining table in February 2024.
The union said this week that it filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Starbucks’ failure to bargain over the new dress code.
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Oh, the oppression!
HA
Dont like the dress code, work somewhere else. What is happening to this country? The baristas don’t own the company and don’t get to set the rules. Rules change and either adapt or move on.
+1
+1
How about taking out the piercings so the pus doesn’t drip into my coffee.
“Restrictive dress code”, are you serious…? WTH.
Entitled. This is what happens when you raise an entire generation with no rules or responsibilities.
The dress code is pointless as I don’t care what they wear under the apron. Most companies don’t require wearing company gear at all times. The long waits are far more important.
I also do not care what baristas wear as long as their clothes are clean and cover their bodies so they don’t have exposed skin brushing up against food, etc.
That said, an employer has a right to impose a reasonable dress code, and telling coffeehouse workers they need to wear khaki or denim pants and a black shirt is neither unduly burdensome nor discriminatory. I think the employees have bigger issues to worry about, like pay, working hours, and benefits (retirement, education reimbursement, etc.).
I support unions, but this is not a Norma Rae moment. I believe if you do not want to agree to a reasonable dress code, then simply pick up and take a job at another coffee chain, or a restaurant, hotel, etc.
Bring in the scabs
Snowflakes.
Is it really that difficult to just wear a black shirt to work every day? They are giving you two black shirts. And there are very few people who don’t already have a pair of khaki, black or blue pants.
Employees have good benefits if you work at least 20 hours/week that include medical, dental and vision coverage; paid tuition and 401(k) matching.
Employees need to learn to pick their battles–this one isn’t the one!