Workers at two Kansas City area Starbucks stores want unions, joining nationwide push
Employees at two Kansas City area Starbucks stores announced union organization efforts on Monday.
Workers United, an affiliate of the national Service Employees International Union, said an “overwhelming majority” of hourly employees at two local stores signed union authorization cards.
Employees at the Country Club Plaza Starbucks and an Overland Park location near Interstate 35 and 75th Street will file petitions for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a union news release.
“We want a union to make sure that our grievances are heard, and that we have a say in how those grievances are addressed,” Emma Baldridge, who works at the Overland Park location, said in a news release. “We don’t want to have to fight for months and months about chronic issues, only to have half solutions implemented that only make our lives more difficult or bring an onslaught of new problems.
“At the end of the day, it’s about having more of a voice and using that voice to improve the barista and customer experience.”
Workers at the two Kansas City stores joined Starbucks employees at 15 locations across the country that announced union organization efforts on Monday. Those include employees in California, New York state, Oregon and Washington.
Including those announced on Monday, workers at 54 Starbucks stores have filed union petitions in 19 states, according to Workers United.
“We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country,” Starbucks officials said in a statement Monday. “Our position hasn’t changed: Starbucks success—past, present and future—is built on how we partner together, always with Our Mission and Values at our core. “
The coffee giant was set to begin negotiations on Monday with workers at a unionized store in Buffalo, New York.
The chain has opposed unionization efforts, sending executives to speak at stores where workers have organized. Executives contend that Starbucks, known for employee benefits that exceed industry standards, has made many changes and improvements from direct dialogue with its 230,000 employees.
But, labor experts point out that the progressive branding of Starbucks has likely caused it to attract a much more union-friendly workforce, according to the New York Times. The chain has advocated for gay rights, implemented racial-bias training for employees, offered healthcare coverage to part-time workers and has pledged to create carbon-neutral coffee.
Rossann Williams, Starbucks executive vice president for North America, wrote to employees last month, saying the company still disagreed with union efforts, but would respect the legal process surrounding negotiations for the Buffalo store.
“This means we will bargain in good faith with the union that represents partners in the one Buffalo store that voted in favor of union representation,” she wrote, according to CNBC. “Our hope is that union representatives also come to the table with mutual good faith, respect and positive intent.”
At the Country Club Plaza Starbucks, workers say they want the company to fulfill its corporate mission.
“Many of us joined Starbucks because we believe in and live its purported mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time,” employees said in Monday’s news release.
“We can’t nurture the human spirit on the clock as long as we’re underpaid and undertrained. We can’t inspire our neighborhood while our partners struggle to afford living there. We can’t make customer connections unless we feel safe around our customers. Our union allows us to have a voice in our workplace that has been denied to us in all but our job title as ‘partners.’ The only partnership right now within Starbucks is the bond that baristas share.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 11:45 AM.
