Starbucks fired Milyanna Romero from a unionized store in what she believes was retaliation for her participation in organizing.
Members of the NFL Players Association and the AFL-CIO joined Starbucks workers on Feb. 11 to show worker solidarity before the Super Bowl in Glendale.
The labor advocates rallied outside the unionized Starbucks at 107th Avenue and Indian School Road in Avondale.
The location voted to unionize in May, but has struggled to get the company to negotiate a contract with them. The store participated in the Red Cup Rebellion strike in November in an attempt to pressure Starbucks to come to the bargaining table.
RELATED: Litchfield Park Starbucks Files Petition to Unionize
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler spoke to the rally crowd, asking them to remember the Jan. 2 NFL game between the Buffalo Bill and Cincinnati Bengals when Damar Hamlin experienced cardiac arrest on the field after a hit.
She said watching players and coaches decide not to finish the game was “one of the most powerful moments of solidarity” she had seen.
“That was workers standing up for each other,” Shuler said. “That was workers saying, ‘I can’t work like this. I am not going to work like this.’ And I tell you, the solidarity we saw that night, it is the same thing that we’re seeing at Starbucks and at workplaces all over this country right now.”
NFLPA President JC Tretter, a former NFL center, called the Starbucks labor movement “critical.”
“Every worker deserves a say,” Tretter told The Copper Courier. “Every worker deserves a seat at the table. We’re all fighting for the same thing: better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
According to Starbucks Workers United, the National Labor Relations Board has issued 60 complaints against Starbucks that included over 1,200 labor law violations.
The union said the company has fired 200 union leaders across the US, and seven in Arizona.
Milyanna Romero was fired from the Avondale store shortly after it unionized. She said she believes it was retaliation for her participation in organizing.
“I think that the management was scared of me, and so they found little reasons to fire me,” Romero told The Copper Courier.
She said she will testify in court in April about her firing.
“I know where I belong,” she said, “and I’m not there.”
Looking for the latest Arizona news? Sign up for our FREE daily newsletter.
Politics
Arizona expects to be back at the center of election attacks. Its officials are going on offense
Republican Richer and Democrat Fontes are taking more aggressive steps than ever to rebuild trust with voters, knock down disinformation, and...
How Arizona could soon have an IVF court ruling like Alabama’s
Arizona leaders have made it clear that fertility care like in vitro fertilization is not in violation of the state’s strict abortion laws—but in...
Local News
Supreme Court hears oral arguments in major abortion access case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments on a case that will ultimately decide the future of mifepristone access in the United States. ...
Meet 7 women who broke barriers in the field of astronomy and beyond
Many corners of the scientific world have been profoundly impacted by the work of women. They’ve blazed a trail across every field, breaking down...