LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Sunergos Coffee and Starbucks employees are striking, causing coffee shops to close down.
Employees of both companies gathered with picket signs around 6 a.m. Monday at the Sunergos at 2122 S. Preston Street in what they're calling a one-day protest, according to a news release from the Service Employees International Union.
"We are not making any coffee today to send Sunergos a message: it's time to stop stalling," Bekah Ryherd said in a written statement.
Ryherd, a Sunergos Coffee barista and member of the union negotiating committee, added that "it's time to sit down with us to reach an agreement that respects our work and invests in the baristas who make Sunergos’ growth and success possible."
The release states that baristas at Sunergos and Starbucks have filed Unfair Labor Practice charges accusing both companies of refusing to negotiate contracts for their wages, benefits, schedules, and other job standards.
Ryherd said she was grateful that Starbucks employees joined Sunergos for the protest.
"It honestly makes me kind of emotional. We've been at this since January, and it's just very exciting to have the support of so many people. Because it can feel really discouraging in the day-to-day."
Since May 2022, baristas at five Sunergos and seven Starbucks stores in Kentuckiana have voted to form unions.
And Heine Brothers workers voted by a 2-to-1 margin to unionize in September, marking the biggest labor organizing effort in Louisville in about a decade. Contract talks began in November.
The Starbucks Workers United bus brought baristas in from across the country to join Monday's protests.
There is a rally and march planned through downtown starting at noon from the Mazzoli federal building to the Sunergos on South Fifth Street.
ALSO NEW | Louisville’s Preston hwy Sunergos Coffee closed as baristas go on strike. They’re fighting for new contracts after unionizing in January. You can see Starbucks baristas have joined in this strike. This bus part of the national “Union is calling” tour. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/ym1BsgAIll
— Monica Harkins WDRB (@MonicaHarkinstv) July 17, 2023
Protests will also be staged at shops at Third and Central, Baxter Avenue, Old Factory Lane, and in Elizabethtown and Clarksville.
WDRB is following this story as protests continue through the afternoon.
Related Stories:
- Sunergos Coffee workers vote in favor of joining union
- Highlands-area Starbucks becomes 4th in Louisville to unionize
- Heine Brothers union reaches tentative deal on 1st labor contract
- East Louisville Starbucks holds 'sip-in' as workers push to unionize on Labor Day
- Starbucks workers in Louisville join nationwide strike to protest working conditions
- Clarksville Starbucks closes during 3-day nationwide union worker strike
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