Starbucks to shutter first Seattle store to unionize, citing 'safety and security incidents'

Starbucks is shuttering its first Seattle location to unionize, the company informed workers Monday, prompting backlash from the union representing workers at the coffeehouse chain.

The closure of the store at Broadway East and Denny Way, which is slated to go into effect Dec. 11, is reportedly in response to safety concerns at the location, the company said, according to The Seattle Times.

"At Starbucks, we make every effort to ensure our partners feel safe and supported at work, so they can focus on providing our customers the safe, welcoming experience they’ve come to love and expect," a Starbucks spokesperson told FOX Business.

"Unfortunately, despite several mitigating efforts, safety and security incidents at our Broadway and Denny store have continued to escalate," the spokesperson continuing, adding that the company's goal "is to ensure that every partner is supported, and we will bargain with the union in good faith to discuss the impact of this decision on our partners—including opportunities to transfer to other area stores."

The spokesperson assured that the Seattle-based company remains "committed to our hometown."

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Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees of the coffee chain, alleged in a statement that the closure is an act of retaliation from the company, noting how the last day the store is scheduled to be open to the public is Dec. 9, which coincides with the anniversary of first Starbucks workers voting to unionize last year in Buffalo, New York.

"The Broadway and Denny location was the first store to unionize in Seattle, and one of the first locations to organize in the country," a union spokesperson observed.

The coffeehouse company has faced growing union efforts, with more 250 stores across the U.S. voting to unionize. Workers at more 100 locations nationwide went on strike and picketed last Thursday as the company held its annual Red Cup Day, when customers can buy reusable red cups.

The participating stores in numerous states handed out their own red union cups to customers as part of what Starbucks Workers United called the "Red Cup Rebellion," according to a union press release provided to FOX Business. Workers at the Broadway and Denny store location were among those who participated in the walkout.

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Starbucks announced in July that it would be closing five stores in Seattle and 16 other locations in large cities because of a spike in crime and drug use among customers and nonpaying patrons. The Starbucks Workers Union has maintained that such measures are merely an attempt to throttle unionization efforts.

Starbucks also made headlines last week when the American Restroom Association (ARA), a nonprofit that advocates for accessible, sanitary public restrooms, urged Starbucks on World Toilet Day to keep its bathrooms open for everyone, including non-customers.

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ARA, whose website cites its goal as "nothing less than a full-scale toilet transformation in this country," urged the coffee chain against recent rhetoric from Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who told The New York Times in June that the company might rethink its open-door bathroom policy, explaining how it is "an issue of just safety."

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"We have to harden our stores and provide safety for our people," Schultz said.

FOX Business' Chris Pandolfo and Aislinn Murphy contributed reporting.