Starbucks Workers Strike Over Bedbugs In Meatpacking District Roastery

MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NY — Bed bugs and black mold inside a Meatpacking District Starbucks are why its baristas, instead of serving pumpkin spice lattes and apple crisp macchiatos, went on strike instead, a workers' representative told Patch.

Workers at the NYC Reserve Roastery — which became the first New York City Starbucks to unionize earlier this year — picketed over "management's failure to respond to urgent health and safety issues" on Tuesday, according to a press release.

A spokesperson from the Starbucks union specified with Patch that the store is "dealing with bedbugs in the Roastery as well as issues with black mold."

"This morning Starbucks Roastery workers went on strike over health and safety issues that we have been dealing with ever since winning our union vote in April," employee Laura Garza told Patch. "This includes a moldy ice machine that we are not equipped to properly remediate, and which are still in current use, as well as the more recent situation with bed bugs being found in the Roastery."

"Proper protocols and communication regarding bed bugs is scarce. All the while, we haven't heard a peep from Starbucks about bargaining our contract," she added.

Workers expect to picket outside the 61 Ninth Ave. location until 5 p.m.

"The health and safety of our partners and our customers is our number one priority," a spokesperson for Starbucks told Patch when asked about the strike and the reasoning for the strike. "Yesterday store management was made aware of a potential pest issue. As soon as management was notified, they arranged for pest control service to inspect and treat the property per protocol."

"Yesterday the provider visited the Roastery location and found no infestation or insect activity," the spokesperson added. "The pest control service gave the location the all-clear to re-open this morning."

The workers at the Roastery won their union election on April 1st, 2022, with a vote of 46 to 36.

There are currently seven unionized Starbucks in New York City, and more than 250 across the United States.

The Meatpacking District store is one of three Roastery locations in the country. Roastery locations are larger than regular Starbucks and serve a wider selection of menu items.

"I'm proud of the culmination of our efforts to make our workplaces more democratic and equitable," Ley Kido, a worker at the Meatpacking District Starbucks, said in a release on Twitter at the time.

"Community is a value near and dear to my heart and I'm grateful and joyous to be in solidarity with my peers!"