LADUE, Mo. – Some Starbucks workers in St. Louis County are walking the picket line, going on strike to protest the firing of an employee.
Workers picketed the Ladue location Saturday morning in the 1500 block of Lindbergh Boulevard. For the second straight day, many held signs in protest of an employee’s dismissal.
Bradley Rohlf, who served as a shift supervisor at the Ladue store, tells FOX 2 he was fired for wearing a union shirt to work.
“I was fired yesterday morning, and shortly thereafter, the vast majority of the staff walked out of the store,” said Rohlf. “The biggest thing is sending a message to Starbucks that if they touch one of us, they touch all of us.”
The Ladue location has been shut down since Friday and is expected to remain shut down through the weekend. Rohlf says at least five other co-workers and other labor unions are picketing Saturday.
“Obviously, the goal is to get me reinstated,” said Rohlf. “I prefer to keep working, to make a better workplace with my co-workers and union members inside the store rather than outside the store.”
Starbucks has not responded to the allegations. The Ladue Starbucks is one of five in the St. Louis area in which employees have voted to join a union.
