SEOUL – Workers at Starbucks Korea have formed a labour union, the company confirmed on July 19, following a marketing fiasco that evoked painful memories of a 1980 government crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Starbucks Korea, the coffee giant’s third-largest market after the United States and China, sparked uproar when it ran a “Tank Day” reusable cup promotion on May 18 – the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju uprising in which 165 civilians were killed, according to the official toll.

It led to the resignation of Starbucks Korea’s chief executive and the early closure of the chain’s more than 2,000 stores nationwide – for staff education sessions on the historical significance of the uprising in June.

In a statement posted on July 16 on the website of the Korean Federation of Chemical, Textile and Food Workers’ Unions, the newly formed group said workers had decided to unionise so they could “protect” their rights and “work with sincerity and pride”.

The union said that despite repeated demands to improve workplace conditions – including mounting protest phrases on trucks – the company had “ultimately ignored partners’ demands, instead unilaterally introducing even more burdensome promotional events”.

The statement did not mention the Tank Day promotional event.

“The time has come for us to assert our rights and re-establish labour-management relations on an equal footing,” it added.

A Starbucks Korea official told AFP on July 19, without disclosing how...