Starbucks at 41st and Main Street in Kansas City is second area store to win union bid
Starbucks staff at Kansas City’s 41st and Main Street location will be the second in the metro area to unionize.
Employees at the store won a union election Wednesday in a 5-4 vote. The location is the second store in the Kansas City area to head into the collective bargaining process with the coffee company and the fifth store in Missouri to win a union election, according to Mari Orrego, a union organizer.
In a statement, a Starbucks spokeswoman said while the company does not believe a union is necessary, it respects the right of staff to organize.
About 23 employees abstained from the election, according to Nova Purcell, a barista at the store. Purcell has worked with the company for 11 months.
The 29-year-old said many workers were scared to vote. The store manager and other supervisors told employees that a union would mean losing access to mental health care and scholarship programs provided by the company, which Purcell said, many staff members rely on.
But Purcell contends that a union is necessary to advocate for better sanitary conditions and better wages. They also believe it will stop supervisors from cutting employees’ hours with little notice.
“It starts at the bottom,” Purcell said. “If we can improve the way we work and start building it forward, up from that, it improves how everyone lives.”
In late May, an Independence location became the first Starbucks store in Missouri to win a union election. Staff similarly complained of unfair working conditions. Many claimed management changed the terms and conditions of their employment, surveilled staff and made coercive statements such as threats or promises of benefits to stop the union effort.
A complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board documented six allegations of unfair treatment at Starbucks stores at the Country Club Plaza and in Overland Park, including employees who lost benefits and had to adhere to stricter dress codes.
Those two locations await results from their union elections since company attorneys challenged the final vote count.
Three employees also alleged the company fired them in retaliation for helping push forward the vote to unionize.
A rally will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Country Club Plaza to protest their firing, Purcell said.
