We as students, attending a university that deeply prides itself in its social mobility, should be empowered to find our voices and to achieve the California Dream. We believe that those in charge of our vendors and contractors should strive to partner with companies that encourage this. Those in charge of the University of California, Riverside should embody these values: Integrity, Accountability, Excellence, and Respect. Yet, they violate them by partnering with companies that deny their workers the right to organize, health and safety, adequate wages, and high quality healthcare including access to adequate gender-affirming healthcare. The actions committed by Starbucks as a company defy these values in a way most egregious. The ongoing history of anti-union exploits committed by Starbucks, aside from flying in the face of the values supposedly held by our university, hurt their workers tremendously and reveal where they truly stand when it comes to people using their voices for real change. One recent and particularly pertinent example of this was when Starbucks sued the Starbucks Workers United union for expressing solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people. It’s been made clear that UCR students will not support any institution complicit in an ongoing genocide. In response to the rapidly growing unionization movement among its workers, Starbucks has been recognized for violating federal labor law hundreds of times and has had 752 Unfair Labor Practices filed against them. For these reasons, we the students urge Chancellor Kim Wilcox, Mr. Gerard Bomotti, and Mr. Thomas Toepfer to completely cut ties with Starbucks.

Stand with Starbucks workers who deserve a union. Starbucks should sit down and negotiate fairly with its workers rather than break the law and attempt to prevent employees from making improvements!

We have momentum on our side, and we need your help. Join us in our new campaign, along with customers and allies, to hold Starbucks accountable and make it clear that we’re not buying the company’s empty claims about its supposed progressive values – and that we won’t let up until Starbucks quits union busting and starts respecting worker rights.

Starbucks' new CEO has a chance to turn the company around and treat workers with respect. Let's call on him to act! Starbucks, like so many corporations, is doing everything in its power to keep workers from winning their union and a fair contract. They know when we stand together, we're more powerful and can win the respect we've earned.

Starbucks has a long history of violating federal labor law having been charged by the National Labor Relations Board over a hundred of times for unfair labor practices. The ASUCLA board of directors can at any time with a majority vote terminate or choose not to renew its contracts with Starbucks, yet they gave no response to the UC Student Associations unanimous vote to cut ties with the Starbucks corporation. By refusing to act, ASUCLA has shown where its interests really lie, not with the many students and community members who work at Starbucks, but with the corporate shareholders who are profiting off of the mistreatment of workers. So please join us in calling upon ASUCLA to terminate or refuse to renew its contracts, and most importantly to stand in solidarity with Starbucks workers across the country who are fighting a fair and dignified workplace.