Starbucks fires Buffalo worker active in unionization effort

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

Starbucks has fired one of the workers who helped kick off a unionization effort at the company. Lexi Rizzo was an eight-year Starbucks employee and shift supervisor. She was fired from her store in Buffalo, New York, on Friday. Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing Starbucks’ workers, said Rizzo was fired after arriving a few minutes late for work. Rizzo was one of the workers who first reached out to labor organizers in 2021 to unionize Starbucks stores. Seattle-based Starbucks opposes the unionization effort. Starbucks said Monday that Rizzo was fired for “repeated and substantial violations” of its attendance policy.