Workers protest Starbucks’ plan to close a unionized store

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

As tensions rise between Starbucks and baristas who want to unionize, the imminent closure of a store in Ithaca, New York, is taking on outsized significance. Starbucks told workers last Friday it plans to permanently close their store — one of three in Ithaca — on June 10. Starbucks cited facilities issues and staffing problems that have plagued the store. But Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks workers nationwide, says the coffee giant is retaliating against the store for its labor activism. Workers at the Ithaca store voted 19-1 to unionize on April 8.