PETALING JAYA, May 12 — Amidst the push for unionisation by Starbucks employees in the United States, one union organiser is turning heads with his fur suit.

Michael Vestigo caught the attention of social media users after he was filmed at a union rally in Seattle late last month, where appeared as his Arctic wolf persona, Apollo.

Ex-Starbucks worker wears fur suit ‘for confidence’ in fight for American labour unions (VIDEO)

In one clip where Vesitgo addresses the crowd of hundreds who showed up for the rally, he revealed that he was fired from his job on April 1 for “supposedly being violent and threatening”.

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“Tell me — does this look violent and threatening?” he added while throwing his arms in the air, earning cheers from the crowd.

 

 

According to Vice, Vestigo’s firing occurred a week after he participated in a one-day walkout in protest against unsafe working conditions and anti-union retaliation from management.

Saying that he had social anxiety, Vestigo told Vice that he believed he was targeted by his former employer “because they thought I would just kind of take it lying down,” he said.

While many were supportive of Vestigo’s fursona, some claimed that he was “discrediting” the union movement by wearing a fur suit.

Taking to TikTok to address these critics, Vestigo explained that he had a “whole bunch of social anxiety” and the suit gave him the confidence he needed to speak publicly.

“Lastly, the most important point is that I wanted to show people that there's support from all walks of life — sometimes people need a reminder that we're all in this together,” he added in the clip.

 

@apollo_ilios @sbworkersunited Support any and ALL unions. #unionstrong #unionize #whyweorganize #union #furries #fursuit #fursuiter #furry #barista #starbucks #unionizestarbucks #sbworkersunited #solidarity ♬ BORN FOR THIS - Foxxi