Newly unionized baristas at a Starbucks shop on Portland State University campus walked off the job and shut down the store May 1 — just three days after voting 14-0 to join Starbucks Workers United.
The strike started because managers told barista and lead union organizer Lauren Smith to clock off and go home after she showed up to work in a union T-shirt.
“That is illegal, so now we are on strike,” Smith told a supporter who had joined the picket line. Starbucks managers were unable to keep the store open.
