PARK SLOPE —  STARBUCKS BARISTAS AND COMMUNITY ALLIES will rally at the Park Slope Starbucks at 166 Seventh Ave. on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 11:45 a.m. The rally was organized to protest the sudden closure of the unionized store. The baristas are escalating their demands for the coffee giant to return to the bargaining table and deliver a fair contract with raises and benefits. Community members and baristas will speak out about the loss of the store, the ongoing fight for workplace improvements and Starbucks’ failure to support the baristas who are central to the company’s turnaround. 

The action comes less than two weeks after Starbucks Workers United — a growing movement of 11,000 Starbucks partners at over 530 stores — filed a federal unfair labor practice charge against Starbucks for closing seven stores, including the Park Slope store. 

The union asserts that Starbuck’s action was retaliation for union organizing, and said Starbucks refused to bargain the decision to close the stores, and failed to respond to the union’s information requests regarding the store closures. The protest comes weeks after the largest strike in Starbucks history as 5,000 baristas shut down over 300 stores across the country on Christmas Eve.