The antiwork movement is taking over the world, with employees standing up for their rights and those of their coworkers. With the positive values spreading like wildfire, it was only a while before we could see great examples like what happened in a Starbucks shop in Buffallo, NY.
Entire Starbucks team walks out during shift to support fired coworker:
After their manager fired one of their coworkers, the staff at a Buffalo, New York, Starbucks shop left in the middle of their shift, according to NT News. The workers feel that their coworker’s termination was “unjustly” made. On TikTok, a video of the walkout was posted, and it quickly gained popularity. Sam Amato is the name of the sacked employee. During the week of his 13th anniversary with the company, he was asked to quit. Amato claims that he thinks his dismissal was caused by his position as a union leader. He strongly believes he was sacked for supporting his team’s unionization, despite the manager’s assurances to the contrary.
@sbworkersunited Starbucks fired a 13-year worker for being a union leader— so the workers walked out in protest. The manager couldnt even look the worker in the eye when she fired him. #boycottstarbucks #uniontok #starbucks #starbucksunion #management #fired
♬ original sound – SBWorkersUnited
A group of nine employees can be seen exiting the Starbucks storefront in the video that was posted to TikTok. A lady who looks to be the store manager is overheard on the phone after the workers stage their walkout. The video’s caption states, “Manager recognizes she made a mistake.” Amato claims in a prior video that two shop managers approached him and informed him that they were firing him because he “changed operations and shuttered the lobby” without first seeking his “store manager’s authorization.” He says in the clip, “It’s a BS reason. “It’s because I lead a union, They didn’t give me any information or any specifics. They wrote things that were not true. After 13 years they refused to give me any details [about] why I was fired.”
Workers United has been trying to organize Starbucks employees in the 9000+ corporate-owned outlets across the US since late 2021. According to The Guardian, 143 outlets were unionized as of June 14 and 120 further locations were petitioning for union elections.
According to Workers United, the coffee company has been progressively reducing employee hours in an effort to persuade long-term employees to retire before replacing them with staff members who are unwilling to organize.
General disapproval from the public on social media and more Antiwork supporters
People showed their frustration on social media, some against Starbucks and some against the manager, while others criticized this whole system that allows employers do do such vile acts. Here are a few examples:
Hey guys! Death Glare Girl here 😅 You can support Sam by donating at “Support Sam fired 13 year Starbucks union leader” on GoFundMe!
Zanat on Tiktok
Starbucks really is hell bent on ruining their reputation aren’t they.
Aleesha M on Tiktok
Can someone explain to me how Starbucks is getting away with firing people for organizing? I thought that was illegal. Is it just that their accomplices in government are just looking the other way or am I wrong about the law?
Kifn2 on Reddit
Conclusion
It is definitely great to see more people adopting antiwork values and knowing their rights, this helps them stand up against corporate greed. Big companies have been making profit by exploiting people for so long, and this is only one of the many forms of payback we are starting to see in our everyday life.
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