College Ave Relief Fund!

[EDIT: Partners are now back to work! Thanks so much to everyone who donated!]

Starbucks closed the College Ave store in Ithaca, NY on June 10th in blatant retaliation against us for unionizing and going on strike. Because we are unionized, we have gone into bargaining over the effects of the closure. The company only gave us one week’s notice of the closure, allowing us only a single week of bargaining while we still had our jobs. Since then, we’ve been jobless and fighting hard at the bargaining table. Once we get an agreement, many of us will transfer to another Ithaca store, while others will leave the company. Starbucks gave us such short notice to try and make us give in to an unfavorable agreement, knowing we need to get back to work in order to survive.

Starbucks is holding out on a few key issues at the bargaining table. The more funding we get, the longer we can stick out bargaining, and the better the agreement. As the first union store to be closed, it is so important that we get a solid agreement out of this, as this will set a precedent for future closed union stores. Supporting our relief fund not only helps us survive, but also directly helps us fight against a corporate beast with so many more resources than we have.