A Starbucks store in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (McKenzie Romero/Utah News Dispatch)
Employees at a Starbucks in South Jordan filed a petition for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board on Tuesday. They joined 17 other Starbucks locations across the country in their efforts to initiate collective bargaining with Starbucks.
Employees at the 1121 South Jordan Parkway location could also join five other unionized Starbucks stores in Utah if a majority of voters choose to form a union.
Bee Nanase Barbera, a barista, said the workers pushing for organization are not “anti-Starbucks” but are “tired of being underpaid, overworked and ignored.”
“We exhausted all ‘official’ routes before choosing this. Talking to partners in union shops and hearing their success stories has given us hope for a better future,” Barbera said in a press release. “We want to keep our jobs, but not at our expense and for the sake of corporate profits.”
The other locations that have registered for union elections are in fourteen states, including California, Florida, New York, Indiana, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Starbucks agreed to begin talks with the union to reach collective bargaining agreements, Sara Kelly, executive vice president and chief partner officer of Starbucks, said in a statement. message in February.
“There is still a lot of work to be done, but this is an important, positive step. It is a clear demonstration of our intent to build a constructive relationship with Workers United for the benefit of our partners,” Kelly wrote. “I want to recognize and appreciate the union’s willingness to do the same.”
Hundreds of representatives from Starbucks Workers United met at the end of April and again last week for the negotiating sessions, where, they said, there was “significant progress.”
“Over the course of the two days, we discussed a wide range of topics, including a shared commitment to mutual respect, the process for resolving complaints and details regarding the union’s representation of partners, as both sides worked to the fundamental framework that informs the negotiation and ratification of single-store contracts,” Starbucks and the union said in a joint statement in April.
More than 10,500 baristas representing more than 440 stores have joined the country’s labor organization’s efforts to call for higher pay, fair scheduling, better working conditions and a safe and dignified workplace, according to a news release.
According to the release, Starbucks Workers United members have so far included “just cause” standards and education benefits for union workers.
The report that South Jordan Starbucks is filing for union elections, along with 17 U.S. stores, first appeared on Utah News Dispatch.
