Starbucks workers in Farmingville strike over union organizer's firing

A former Farmingville Starbucks worker who was fired in June said management used trumped up charges to terminate him over his union organizing, resulting in a one-day strike at the store Monday.

Brendan Lopez, 23, a Medford resident and former shift supervisor at the Starbucks at 2280 N. Ocean Ave., said he was unfairly fired  after a company investigation failed to find proof of an allegation by management that he had taken $20 from the store register.

The union representing workers at the store filed an unfair labor practice petition with the National Labor Relations Board on July 27 because of the firing. 

The company, in a statement Monday, said, "We believe the allegations made by [the union] are meritless and that actions taken were both lawful and in alignment with long-established partner policies."

The striking workers are members of the Workers United New York New Jersey Regional Board, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. They were joined on the picket line Monday by supporters, including representatives of Long Island Jobs with Justice, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, RWDSU 338, and David Calone, the Democratic candidate for Suffolk County executive.

As of 12:30 p.m., the Farmingville store, which had been operated largely by managers from other locations since early Monday morning, was closed. A small printed sign at the store’s entrance read, “Our store is temporarily closed.” It encouraged customers to visit nearby Starbucks locations.

Lopez, who was an organizer behind the store’s push to unionize last summer, said his firing was a veiled attempt to punish his activism.

“They launched a two-week investigation into me for stealing money because they saw that $20 was missing,” said Lopez, who worked at the coffee chain for two years.

Lopez said the investigation yielded no evidence of him stealing, but that management found he had on a few occasions deposited money from the register before 10 p.m., against company procedures.

Lopez, who had been written up for a different error in handling the register in April, said he was not previously warned about or trained on waiting until 10 p.m. exactly to deposit money from the register.

Starbucks said in its statement that the termination was proper and "not in retaliation for any partners’ participation in, or support of, concerted union activities."

The company said Lopez had received training on end-of-day cash procedures. 

"The partner received coaching and was subject to progressive discipline prior to separation for clear and repeated violations of established cash handling policies," the company said. 

The union said other workers who have done the same have not been terminated.

 “They were so desperately looking for a reason to fire me,” Lopez said. “My separation letter reads that ‘despite the outcome of the investigation, we are separating Brendan Lopez.’ I stole no money.”

In addition to picketing, Farmingville workers and Lopez traveled early Monday to Manhattan to confront the former store manager at Starbucks’ regional offices, where they said he now works.

Workers there delivered a letter with several demands, including Lopez’ reinstatement, a meeting to negotiate a union contract, and  proper training for employees.

Employees at Starbucks locations in Massapequa, Westbury, Wantagh and Lynbrook also have voted to unionize over the past two years. Workers at a Great Neck location narrowly voted against unionizing last year, a result Workers United has challenged with the NLRB

Nearly 340 Starbucks stores in 40 states have unionized across the Seattle-based coffee giant’s roughly 9,000 corporate owned stores.