Starbucks is seeking to stop or pause an ongoing unionization vote at a store in Mesa, Arizona, in order to overturn a regional labor officials’ ruling that the election would be conducted on a store-by-store basis, rather than region-wide.
Monday will see the company filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to overturn an earlier ruling, hoping to incorporate workers in other parts of the region that haven’t necessarily been involved in unionization activities in the union vote, Bloomberg reported. Starbucks requested that the election be halted or that the ballots are impounded while the NLRB reviews the appeal.
The company requested earlier this month that the vote for the union be regional in order to Dilute the votes, but a regional NLRB official ruledOnly the Power and Baseline Mesa stores should be included. Ballots have been sent and are due next Wednesday.
“Trying to prevent our votes from being counted is so undemocratic,” Michelle Hejduk, an Arizona employee, told BloombergWorkers United has released a statement. “But the partners will win.”
Starbucks has now filed a request for an interruption of a unionization voting. In November, The companyLast-minute request was made to postpone the mailing of ballots to Buffalo workers. The company’s request was the same: Starbucks asked the NLRB for all 20 Starbucks locations in western New York to be included in the election, instead of just the three organizing stores.
The NLRB ultimately rejectedThe request was granted, and the vote was carried out at the three stores exactly as planned. That election ended in two unionized storesThe Elmwood and Genesee Street locations are located in Buffalo. Starbucks Workers United, a union representing workers, has disputed the results from Camp Road’s third location.
It’s unclear why Starbucks is filing such similar requests over and over. But it is an indication that the company may be intimidated by the organizing workers in Mesa; Monday’s filing may be a last-ditch effort to stop the unionization.
As More Perfect Union reportedArizona workers claim that the company is flooding their stores with managers who are monitoring workers and trying to find reasons for firing organizing employees. Starbucks Workers United states that the company has already fired one employeeBrittany Harrison, after she spoke about union-busting practices such as holding mandatory anti-union meetings to unionize workers.
Harrison was fired, but the company disputes this. Retaliation against workers who participated in union activities is illegalCompanies like Amazon are examples of this. faced disciplineThese actions can be taken by the NLRB
Even if the company can successfully interrupt the Arizona vote in its favor, Starbucks workers are now filing for union election at a rate that may prove difficult to fight individually. As of Tuesday over 30 storesYou have filed to unionize new election petitions being filedNearly every day in this month.
Two stores in Seattle are the latest to file. They are located close to the company’s headquarters. Seattle workers claim that they have poor working conditions despite receiving preferential treatment by corporate.
Sarah Pappin, a shift manager at one of the unionizing Seattle shops, said Vice that Seattle workers have the same complaints as other Starbucks employees across the country: stores are often understaffed, workers don’t make a fair wage and the company has ignored COVID concerns.
“We see the best side of the company because we have such visibility to corporate. [Former CEO] Howard Schultz is a regular at some of our stores,” Pappin said. “We get the best experience of anyone in the country. But we’re still saying this is not enough for us to be successful.”
