Union workers in Greeley Friday took action with Starbucks workers walking out and JBS plant workers threatening a strike that was averted just minutes before a 200-worker walkout.

Several Starbucks workers, members of Starbucks Workers United, walked out of the store on 11th Avenue Friday morning as part of a nationwide effort to get company officials to address alleged poor working conditions and bring management to the bargaining table, according to a Friday news release.

From Friday to Sunday, union members and those hoping to form unions are joining a nationwide unfair labor practice strike. They will strike from 7 a.m. to noon each day, concluding with a rally, which is open to supporters as well, according to the release.

Denver Gazette reporters visited several Starbucks in metro Denver before noon and witnessed no other walkouts.

JBS plant

At JBS, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 officials were about 15 minutes away from pulling workers out of the plant to walk the picket line, but the two sides reached an agreement, according to Public Affairs Director. Marcela Salazar.

The three-year contract for Denver Processing, a pork and beef case-ready plant, will ensure that the 200 workers are “fairly treated and compensated” for their work. The contract was “the most significant wage increase by a UFCW local branch for a case-ready plant,” according to a press release.

“We have been negotiating this contract for three months with JBS and are happy both parties finally came to an agreement,” Local 7 President Kim Cordova said in the release. “We want to thank the tireless bargaining committee and workers who showed up to have their voices heard and their demands met. This fight was always about them, and now they have a contract they deserve and can be proud of.

“This contract is proof of the power of unions and collective bargaining. When workers organize, they not only see wage increases and better working conditions for themselves, but it also benefits their families, communities, and our economy.”

The contract brought the wage for first-year employees up and increased hourly-wage workers salaries from anywhere between $4 to $6 per hour. Existing healthcare and pension plans will continue, and there will be an end to “two-tier discrimination on vacations, doubled the night premium and increased weekly guarantees for weekly minimum hours from 20 to 32,” according to the release.

“We are pleased to have worked together with UFCW Local 7 to reach an agreement that will positively benefit our team members and ensure the ongoing production of safe, high-quality food at our Denver Processing facility,” Nikki Richardson, head of corporate communications for JBS USA and Pilgrim’s, said in an email to the Denver Gazette.

Starbucks

The Starbucks Workers United group represents nearly 8,000 workers from more than 270 locations nationwide. Union officials allege the National Labor Relations Board has issued 39 official complaints against Starbucks, covering 1,000 alleged violations of federal labor law, according to a news release.

Angelica Floyd, a barista at the 11th Street Starbucks location in Greeley, has been working for the company for 16 years and has been at this store for about a year. A co-worker and union member at the location was just fired, which led the rest of the union workers there to walk out.

Floyd said Starbucks has continued to cancel meetings with them. Their location is understaffed, which makes it hard to produce the new drinks, food, and adequately serve customers between mobile orders, lobby and drive through, she said.

They are also on time limits to get items out while trying to ensure they can produce a good customer experience, Floyd said. Workers seek better pay, hours, and more supportive and responsive communications with managers.

“We’re hoping that with the loss of money, which is the only thing that they seem to care about, that they’ll start to see our value and maybe come and talk to us and just bargain for just some basic workers rights,” Floyd said.

Floyd noted the closing of the Colorado Springs and Seattle union-based stores as examples of the company purposefully closing stores with union workers.

“We don’t want to leave, we want to work and we want to provide for our community and we want to give you the best service and give you the best drinks,” Floyd said. “We really do care about that kind of stuff, but it’s hard to do when you can’t manage it and the [management] doesn’t care that you can’t.”

Starbucks officials responded when a Denver Gazette reporter reached out Friday.

“It is unfortunate that Workers United continues to spread misleading claims while disrupting the Starbucks Experience that our partners and customers have come to love and expect,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Despite these delay tactics, we remain focused on working together and engaging meaningfully and directly with the union to make Starbucks a company that works for everyone, and we urge Workers United to uphold their promises to partners by moving the bargaining process forward.”

However, the Starbucks spokesperson said that the company supports the right of the employees, who the company refers to as partners, to participate in these protests.

“We respect our partners’ right to engage in lawful protest activities, but we remain focused on listening to our partners and working alongside them to reinvent the Partner Experience and the future of Starbucks,” according to the statement. “Partners who may choose to participate in any protest activities have the right to return to work at any time — joining the vast majority of our partners who have continued to work with us to deliver the Starbucks Experience for our customers and one another.”

While Floyd alleged company officials delayed bargaining meetings, the spokesperson wrote that the company is continuing to work to hold bargaining sessions — noting managers have gone in-person to 75 single-store bargaining sessions.

“Looking forward, we continue to propose dates and locations to Workers United for additional contract bargaining sessions — and have encouraged our partners to participate in the collective bargaining process so that their voices are heard,” according to the spokesperson.