Billy Bragg will join Starbucks Workers United and perform in Buffalo
This week, a famous rock musician will show their support for the Starbucks union’s picket line.
On Wednesday, at 1 p.m., Billy Bragg will perform with Starbucks Workers United in front of the Elmwood Avenue Starbucks.
Bragg is a politically engaged British musician who specializes in creating protest songs in the folk-punk genre. On Tuesday, he will play in Troy, and then he will have Wednesday off before performing in Toronto on Thursday.
Employees at the store have gone on strike to protest the recent string of write-ups, which they think are an act of retaliatory discipline against workers who support the union.
The Elmwood shop was the first one to unionize, and it is now trying to negotiate a contract for its employees. Workers claim that the regulations are being enforced in a manner that is both discriminatory and inconsistent. For instance, worker Will Westlake claimed that he was fired because he refused to remove a pin that was meant to prevent suicide. According to the union, he did not have any problems when wearing pins before the unionizing started.
