A Starbucks in Yucaipa is moving to unionize after a video on social media raised questions about company policy and employee safety.
The interaction occurred last month when a customer requested Charlie Kirk’s name be written on her cup. The barista did not and cited their understanding of company policy.
The customer posted the interaction on TikTok, which sparked a wave of online backlash and harassment of the store’s employees.
Starbucks issued a statement that said, “There are no restrictions on customers using Charlie Kirk’s name on their order, and we are following up with our team.”
Ash is a barista at the store. KVCR is not using their full name due to fears of harassment.
“The policy was, you cannot talk about any sort of religion, any sort of politics, no pop culture references. It got to the point where we're not even allowed to draw cute little pictures on cups because it could be misrepresented.”
Ash says that the desire to unionize is about worker safety, protections and clarity on policies.
Efforts to unionize are paused as the federal labor relations authority is currently closed due to the government shutdown.