New Hampshire
Starbucks Barista Strike Reaches New Hampshire
By Arnie Alpert, Active with the Activists
Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace. Officially retired from the American Friends Service Committee since 2020, he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements. You can reach him at arnie.alpert@indepthnh.org.
The “Red Cup Rebellion” strike of Starbucks workers reached New Hampshire Thursday, when baristas set up picket lines at stores in Epping, Stratham, and Seabrook. The Stratham store, normally open until 9:00 pm, was closed by 12:30 pm.
“We’re not staffed properly, so we’re overworked, and we don’t get paid enough for the amount of work that we do,” said Scott Lasalette, who was on the picket line outside the Epping store.
Cailyn Heath, a shift supervisor at the Stratham Starbucks, said the strike will go on “as long as it takes.”
“We want better wages. We want better working conditions. We want people to be able to afford rent,” she said, “to be paid enough that they can afford an apartment, that they don’t have to be choosing between groceries and meds.”
Nationwide, the strike launched on November 13, with walkouts at 65 stores in more than 40 cities. Like the UAW’s 2023 Stand Up Strike, Starbucks Workers United is adding more stores each week. Today, the union said, baristas went on strike at 26 additional stores including the three in New Hampshire, bringing the total to more than 145.
The company says “99% of our 17,000 U.S. locations remain open.”
The union says its strike is focused on hundreds of unresolved unfair labor practice charges, “more labor law violations than any employer in modern history.” The charges include firings of union members and a failure to negotiate over policies such as a controversial dress code.
The union is getting support from the Teamsters Union, whose members have a practice of refusing to cross picket lines. April Richer, a Dover Teamster who was on the picket lines in Epping and Stratham today, said a Teamster delivery driver turned back from the Stratham store this morning.
Lasallette said the Epping store had less than half its normal staffing today due to the strike. “The store can’t operate with those numbers,” he said.
By early afternoon, a sign taped to the door of the Stratham Starbucks said, “We have temporarily closed our in-store café, but our drive-through remains open.” When I arrived at about 1 pm, the café was dark and the drive-through window appeared to be unstaffed. “Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience,” the sign said.
According to a company statement, “Starbucks offers the best job in retail, with pay and benefits averaging $30 per hour for hourly partners.” Lasallette said that as a full-time worker, he has access to benefits, but that many baristas, who work less than 20 hours a week, are out of luck. “The benefits are nearly impossible to get with the current way that the stores are run,” he said.
According to the company’s own figures, its CEO last year made 6666 times as much as the median worker, a part-time barista earning $14,674 a year.
The union continues to ask potential customers to stay away from all Starbucks stores and products while the strike is on. A union email, sent today, said, “On December 15, we’re asking allies across the country to show up at non-union Starbucks stores to ask customers to stop buying Starbucks. It only takes 1 to 3 people to make a real impact. And if we work together, we can talk to thousands upon thousands of customers at hundreds of stores all on the same day.”
According to the union, more than 200,000 people have signed their “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge. The union has also drawn support from a wide range of organizations, including major unions, Peace Action, the Sunrise Movement, and the Democratic Socialists of America, which is organizing “strike kitchens” in support of union members.
The union and the company each accuse the other of walking away from the bargaining table. “Right now, it’s their move,” Heath said.
Picketing Friday morning will focus on the Starbucks store at Seabrook Crossing. The New Hampshire AFL-CIO emailed an alert to its members encouraging them to be there.
New Hampshire
Missing motorcyclist found dead after crash in Shelburne, NH
A New Hampshire motorcyclist who had been missing since the Fourth of July was found dead in Shelburne late Thursday night.
State police say they received a request from the Berlin Police Department just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday for help locating 41-year-old Wesley Grondin — the Berlin man was last seen riding his motorcycle on Saturday, July 4, and had been reported missing.
Troopers received a call a couple of hours later, around 10:10 p.m. Thursday, from a concerned resident who had been out looking for Grondin along Route 2 in Shelburne. The person told police they had found Grondin dead, along with his Harley Davidson.
According to state police, a preliminary investigation determined that Grondin was riding his Harley on Route 2 westbound in Shelburne when, for reasons that remain under investigation, he crossed over into the opposing lane, struck a post, and came to a final rest in the wood line.
The crash is believed to have occurred just before midnight on July 4. At this time, police say there’s no indication that another vehicle or person was involved.
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation, however. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact Trooper Hunter Newsham at Hunter.P.Newsham@dos.nh.gov.
New Hampshire
Nashua, NH, woman jailed for falsifying marriage to claim late man’s estate
KEENE, N.H. — A Nashua woman who had a town clerk falsely certify a marriage that never happened so she could claim her late partner’s property has been sentenced to seven days in jail, placed on probation and ordered to repay thousands to his estate.
Attorney General John Formella said Wendy Leedberg‑Snow, 60, turned to Winchester Town Clerk Jim Tetreault after the death of her longtime partner, Eric Leedberg — who was born in Lowell — using the falsified license to pose as his spouse and lay claim to property from his estate, an effort prosecutors describe as an attempt to rewrite the couple’s history for financial gain.
“This case involved a deliberate effort to manipulate official government records and exploit the death of a loved one for personal financial gain,” Formella said in a press release announcing the sentencing. “Our vital records system depends on honesty and integrity, and those who seek to corrupt that system will be held accountable. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors whose work ensured justice for the victim’s family.”
According to Leedberg’s obituary, he was 53 when he died on Oct. 12, 2023, following a two‑year battle with cancer.
In the obituary, Leedberg-Snow is described as his “significant other.”
Prosecutors said Leedberg‑Snow moved quickly after his death, relying on Tetreault’s signature to fabricate a marriage that never occurred and position herself as Leedberg’s surviving spouse.
Tetreault, who was a New Hampshire justice of the peace at the time, falsely signed the marriage license claiming he had officiated the couple’s wedding. He later admitted he never performed any ceremony for Leedberg‑Snow and Leedberg and had no personal knowledge of them ever being married.
Leedberg‑Snow used the fraudulent certificate to obtain property from Leedberg’s estate, including a pickup truck and trailer, and later attempted to influence a witness connected to the scheme.
Leedberg‑Snow pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene to felony counts of solicitation to commit vital records fraud, title fraud, theft by misapplication of property and witness tampering.
In addition to her seven‑day jail term, she must serve two years of probation, pay $4,600 in restitution, return the truck and trailer to Leedberg’s estate and comply with a suspended three‑and‑a‑half‑ to seven‑year prison sentence, which means the sentence only takes effect if she violates the conditions of her probation.
Tetreault, who continues to serve as Winchester’s town clerk and “fully cooperated with the State’s investigation,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in April to notarial misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of vital records fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days in the house of corrections, all suspended for two years on good behavior, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus a $240 penalty assessment.
He resigned his commissions as a justice of the peace and bail commissioner and agreed not to seek recommissioning as a justice of the peace or notary public during the two‑year suspension period.
Tetreault could not be reached for comment at his office number.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
New Hampshire
Rescue Crews Help Injured Woman Off Mt. Washington
SARGENT’S PURCHASE – On Saturday, personnel from multiple rescue crews teamed up to help an injured woman get off of Mt. Washington to seek medical treatment.
At approximately 7:45 AM, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were notified that a staff member at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Lakes of the Clouds Hut had taken a serious fall at the hut and was left unable to walk.
Fish and Game subsequently mobilized search and rescue personnel to come and help evacuate the young woman from her remote location.
By 10:00 AM, members of the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR), Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue Team (Pemi), AMC and Fish and Game had gathered at the Base Station of the Cog Rail. The Cog Railway generously donated room on their trains, and rescuers and equipment were given rides up Mt. Washington to the West Side Trail, which allowed for a shorter and less strenuous 1.6 mile hike than other routes.
By 11:20 AM rescuers were at the hut with the patient. The patient was subsequently packaged in a litter and prepared for an overland carryout back to the Cog tracks.
Rescue personnel made steady progress, and by 2:15 PM had made it back across West Side Trail and to the train tracks. A Cog Railway train picked up the whole rescue party and brought everyone back down the mountain. Once roadside, the patient was evaluated by personnel from Twin Mountain Fire and Rescue.
She was ultimately driven from the scene by a friend and went to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for further evaluation Get unbiased nonprofit watchdog news sent directly to your inbox.
and treatment of multiple injuries related to her fall. The patient was identified as Cali Turner, 26, of Willimantic, Maine.
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Fish and Game would like to thank all of the people and organizations involved in this rescue effort. Through the help of everyone, the rescue was a great success and got done in a timely manner.
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