After 12 Years Working at Starbucks, This Worker Says the Company Fired Him for Unionizing
Sam Amato spent over a decade working as a barista for Starbucks near Buffalo, New York, and loves the company. But after he joined a union drive with Starbucks Workers United, he says the company didn't care about his years of service — and fired him.
Starbucks world headquarters in Seattle, Washington. (Kevin Schafer / Getty Images)
For more than a dozen years, Sam Amato served his customers and chatted with them every day. He saw their kids grow up. Some of his best friends are Starbucks customers and coworkers.
Remembering them, he chokes up.
“Just being in the store every day, and seeing these people, and talking to them, and making their drinks,” he says. “It was really an honor to do that.”
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