A Starbucks location in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Employees at a Starbucks in New Orleans voted to form a union, the first of the coffee giant’s locations in Louisiana to organize.
Votes were cast on Friday and Saturday January 11 in favor of joining the Workers’ Company, which represents the consolidated Starbucks stores, WWNO-FM reported. The station said two ballots had been challenged.
The New Orleans vote is the latest in a series of wins for workers at Starbucks stores nationwide, and comes about a week after workers in Birmingham, Alabama, voted 27- 1 to become that state’s first union Starbucks.
Barista Caitlyn Pierce and others wanted to unite because of frequent shifts where they were overworked and understaffed, the station reported.
“I’m feeling great,” Pierce said. “This is something we’ve worked so hard on and it’s great to finally get here.”
Starbucks has struggled with consolidation efforts, saying the company-owned 9,000 US stores work best when Starbucks works directly with employees it calls “partners”.
In a statement Sunday, Starbucks said it was “listening and learning,” adding, “We respect our partners’ right to organize.” The statement did not say whether the company opposed the vote.
Billie Nyx, the union’s campaign organizer, said she was fired in mid-May for closing the store early without permission from higher management. Nyx is protesting the layoffs, saying it was in retaliation for union lobbying.
Nyx said it will meet with its attorney and bring together those still working at the store to solidify specific requirements for contract negotiations.
To win the changes they seek – like better pay and more reliable schedules – union stores still have to sit down with Starbucks and negotiate contracts. It is a painstaking process that can take years.
A Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, became the first in the United States to open late last year. Headquartered in Seattle, the company has more than 34,000 stores worldwide.
