Workers at Columbus-area Starbucks locations are picketing Thursday as part of a national strike by the Starbucks Workers United over pay and other working conditions.
Isaac Green, of east Columbus, was one of more than 20 workers picketing outside a closed Starbucks on High Street near the Ohio State campus. Green, 24, works at a Worthington Starbucks. He said wages are a key issue for him.
"I've worked at Starbucks for three years. Also, during that time I picked up other jobs, second jobs, to supplement my income, and I got less money in my bank account now than I did three years ago," Green said.
Jackson Francis, of Columbus, works at a Starbucks in the Short North. Francis, 22, said pay is a big issue. He said the CEO of Starbucks makes more than 6,000 times that of the average barista.
"We're also dealing with a lot of understaffing in stores, only two or three people in at a time. We're not able to run our plays. The people who are getting scheduled are often getting scheduled under the hours they're requesting for, so it's really just all around, we're asking for better conditions," Francis said.
Francis said about nine stores in the Columbus area were closed Thursday.
Green said the pickets will continue at other locations in the coming days. Unionized workers still have no collective bargaining agreement with Starbucks.
About 550 of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned stores are now unionized. The company also has around 7,000 licensed locations at airports, grocery stores and other locales.
The continuing strike by Starbucks’ union began last month at dozens of locations across the U.S.
