About 2,000 Starbucks workers stage one-day strike at more than 100 stores in Seattle and Portland
Starbucks workers walked off the job Thursday afternoon in Seattle and Portland, the latest in a series of similar protests in cities nationwide — and the latest in a string of strikes in cities, towns, and cities around the world.
The workers in Seattle, which began with a rally where about 2,000 people gathered outside Seattle City Hall, then marched to the Starbucks headquarters in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, were not interested in a quick ending to their protest.
A group of 1,000 people marched into the Starbucks location in downtown Seattle.
The movement that was born in Seattle is now spread to Portland, where at least 250 people were involved in a sit-in inside the store to protest the company’s policy of not hiring people who are homeless.
Starbucks employees in Seattle also said they will walk out for the second time on Thursday.
“We’re not stopping our work,” said John MacPhee, a Starbucks employee in Seattle, of his plan to keep on working Friday morning. “We’ve been saying we’re not going into the job.”
Starbucks did not comment specifically on the protests for the second time in as many days, and instead said they are “committed to working with our teams to meet all the needs of our guests and our communities.”
“We remain focused on our ongoing initiatives aimed at being the best place for people to work, drink coffee and relax,” Starbucks said in a statement on its website.
Starbucks workers have held strikes in cities and towns from Boston to Los Angeles to Portland, Ore. on several days over the past week. The protests started after several Seattle Starbucks stores closed on Oct. 22.
Wednesday’s strike was originally planned to be a series of 20-minute strike by workers to protest
