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Sunday, October 8, 2023

Will Starbucks' Labor Controversy Come to UCLA?

From Inside Higher Ed: Generation Z isn’t happy with Starbucks’ labor practices, and some college students are showing their displeasure by doing more than just skipping their morning cold brew—they’re actively trying to get Starbucks-branded cafes removed from their campuses. 

Student activists at more than 50 universities across the country are pushing administrators to end contracts with the Seattle-based coffee chain in protest of the company’s response to employee unionization. Starbucks workers began organizing in late 2021 in the hopes of receiving higher wages, better benefits and more security for those benefits. Since then, the National Labor Relations Board has accused Starbucks of hundreds of labor-rights violations, including firing pro-union employees and shutting down unionized locations. Starbucks, once known for its progressive politics and above-average benefits, has denied store closures or firings had anything to do with unionization efforts.

One group of activists has already succeeded in their mission: students at Cornell University received official word from President Martha E. Pollack in August that the Ivy League institution will not renew its contract with Starbucks when it comes up in 2025...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/physical-campuses/2023/10/05/student-protesters-fight-remove-starbucks-campuses.

So, what about UCLA? Of course, there are several Starbucks locations near campus in the Westwood area. But, there is one location on campus, as a bit of web searching will reveal. It's just sufficiently obscure to most students so that they don't know where it is. But it's in "Cafe Med" whose street address is 10888 Le Conte Ave. Apparently, it's a franchise within a franchise.

10888 Le Conte Ave., Geffen Hall


Back in 2017, an article in the Daily Bruin seemed to be complaining that apart from Cafe Med, there was no Starbucks on campus:
But that was before the current labor disputes at Starbucks were in the news, e.g., 

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