At 6 a.m. on Wednesday, April 2, Trinity’s Starbucks baristas sent a formal document via email to Chartwells’ management and human resources department stating their intention to strike until store manager Cole Patterson’s* termination. After the majority of employees failed to appear for their scheduled shifts, Chartwells’ team closed the store and temporarily removed Patterson from his position, placing him under investigation.

The document, citing a long history of grievances, explained that after repeated reports of Patterson’s misconduct failed to result in change, employees felt they needed to take action. Aaralyn Burt, sophomore political science and international studies double-major and strike organizer, said the document outlined the team’s decision to strike.

“We listed different behaviors. There’s hostile work environment, negligence, inappropriate conduct, failure to enforce policies, attendance, food safety, pattern of misconduct, and then we provided just very simple photos of things,” Burt said.
Ana Olachea, sophomore history and art history double-major and Starbucks barista, worked under Patterson for a year. Olachea participated in the strike, echoing the complaints listed in the formal document.

“Overall, we’ve been uncomfortable with how he leads the store since he got here in April of last year. I felt like he didn’t really show much respect towards his workers but expected us to respect him as a leader,” Olachea said. “We never felt like we could rely on him, and he just expected way too much of us without giving proper support.”

On the day of the strike, Burt emailed Chartwells’ management and human resources office, as the dining provider oversees the Starbucks. Signed by each team member, the email and document notified Yessenia Guardado*, director of Dining Services, and Chase Taylor*, resident district manager of Chartwells, of the team’s intention to strike until Patterson’s termination.

Burt received a response from Taylor that morning indicating that Patterson would be temporarily removed while the issue was under investigation. Burt said that all workers were then strongly urged to return to work. Olachea said that despite the response, the team continued the strike.

“We were like, ‘No, we’re gonna stand for this. We’re not gonna come back just because you asked us to.’ So that day, I avoided the library as much as possible,” Olachea said.

Burt, too, refused to come in after Taylor’s response. They texted with fellow employees, reminding each other to stand firm.
“That defeats the whole purpose,” Burt said. “The corporate store will survive one day without business, and that we need to stand our ground because we weren’t listened to, and they want to do something now that we’re physically showing a protest.”
Olachea said that before the strike, she and other employees spoke with management several times about Patterson’s behavior. After bringing a list of grievances to Guardado and not seeing change, Olachea said the team felt they had no other options.

“That’s when we were fed up with it. It took the strike for them to actually take charge and handle Cole directly,” Olachea said.
Baristas and students reported seeing Guardado working in place of the striking employees. Sterling Shearer, English major and ex-Starbucks employee as of early fall 2024, said the store looked different than usual.

“It was a really weird thing to witness. Normally there’s five or so people behind the counter all doing their own thing, but this time we had our Trinity dining manager at register and two people on bar,” Shearer said. “It was intense. I saw no smiles behind the counter that day.”

While Burt said that some employees did not participate in the strike due to personal reasons, the store remained severely understaffed throughout the day. Olachea said the chaos that ensued was not unusual.

“I think they kind of experienced what we experienced on a daily basis with Cole: that lack of support,” Olachea said.
While Patterson has been seen working at other Chartwells locations, Burt said he no longer works at Starbucks. Burt said that, as a result, the work environment has drastically improved.

“This is something that’s realistically, in hindsight, very small. You know, it’s a Starbucks, it’s a coffee shop. But, it felt very empowering getting to, in a sense, lead something that did make change even if it was kind of minor,” Burt said.

*Patterson did not respond to request for comment.
*Guardado and Taylor declined to comment.