‘Starbucks refuses to implement it’: Coffee giant scraps tipping options at Douglas location

Union workers at a Starbucks on Douglas Street in Victoria are making a plea to the coffee company giant to turn on the tipping option for customers that pay with credit or debit.

When customers show up at the Starbucks close to Mayfair Shopping Centre, they won’t find any tip options if paying by card. The union claimed that Starbucks is purposefully shutting off the tip option as a punishment for being a unionized location as of June 2021.

In a statement from Izzy Adachi, a union-based organizer who’s working with the employees, says:

“There is nothing in the collective bargaining agreement which precludes or prevents Starbucks from instituting digital tips at 3180 Douglas St. The sole reason why there is no digital tip option is because Starbucks refuses to implement it,” said Adachi.

This move comes after a complaint was filed with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board for its refusal to turn on the tip option for credit or debit payments. A statement on the More Perfect Union website says the NLRB ruled in favour of the union in March 2023.

This tipping shut-off by Starbucks comes a little over a year after the company decided to increase wages, benefits and training for its workers across the country except for the Douglas Street location.

Scott Lunny, a representative from the United Steel Workers union, told CHEK News back in May of 2022 that Starbucks sent a letter to the workers stating that they do not qualify for the wage increase because they are part of a union.

CHEK News reached out to Starbucks for a comment regarding the shut-off but did not receive a response. If a response is received, this story will be updated.

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