Starbucks workers score major win after reportedly being forced to keep working during LA fires
Los Angeles, California - Unionized Starbucks baristas in Los Angeles won catastrophe pay after the company allegedly required employees to keep working despite the wildfires ravaging the area.
"Yesterday, everyone at my store received a call from management notifying us that from the 8th to the 12th, we would be able to receive catastrophe pay for any shifts we missed as a result of being evacuated or feeling unsafe with the working conditions," an LA Starbucks worker says in a video uploaded Wednesday to social media.
Starbucks Workers United shared the update two weeks after circulating footage of employees at an LA store saying they had been forced to continue working as blazes are seen raging in the background.
To date, the fires have killed at least 28 people as firefighters continue to battle the flames.
"It's exactly what we wanted," the LA worker says in the video announcing catastrophe pay. "However, they made a point to end out these calls by saying that this was only possible because of the 'direct relationship' between Starbucks and their partners."
"We know that that's not true because they expected us to come in and open the store on the 10th. This is truly only possible because of the collective action we took by withholding our labor and filing OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] complaints."
Starbucks Workers United is calling for continued public support in their fight for a fair contract as they urge the company to deliver a serious economic proposal.
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/X/@SBWorkersUnited