28-02-2025
Two more Starbucks locations in Minnesota move to unionize
Workers at two more Minnesota Starbucks locations have filed for a union election.
Baristas at locations in Roseville and St. Cloud are looking to join the union, which includes more than 11,000 workers across 540 Starbucks locations in 45 states, per Starbucks Workers United.
The move follows closely on the heels of a nationwide strike at more than 300 Starbucks locations on Christmas Eve. The strike was aimed at calling out what workers believe to be unfair labor practices from the massive coffee chain.
The workers at Hwy 36 and Fairview Avenue in Roseville and 2nd Street and 6th Avenue in St. Cloud filed for unionization in late January, looking for protections on wages, racial and gender equity, and "fair scheduling." Their vote is expected to take place in the coming weeks, reports Workday Magazine.
'Our store has become a high-stress environment due to excessive pressure on drive times and the lack of respect or recognition for partners' hard work," Dijah Abushagor, an employee at the Roseville store, said in a statement. "Unionizing would give us the collective power to demand fair treatment, a healthier work environment, and the respect we deserve."
Starbucks says it will respect employees "right to choose," spokesperson Phil Gee tells Bring Me The News in a written statement.
The concerns of employees across the country have led the union to file more than 90 unfair labor practice (ULP) charges "after the company backtracked on the path forward it agreed to over the future of organizing and collective bargaining," the union says.
In early January, Starbucks Workers United filed 36 ULP charges for retaliatory firings. Later in the month, the union filed 55 more ULP charges "for illegally changing workplace rules without bargaining."
Those followed December ULP charges against the company for what the union characterizes as refusing to bargain.
In the January filings, the union alleges that the coffee giant has selectively enforced "rules for minor infractions as an excuse to terminate baristas in retaliation for union support."
The December and January ULP filings are the first legal challenges the union has presented against Starbucks since March of last year.
The company says the union's allegations are "baseless."
"Taking time to file such claims is a tactic that brings distraction from the progress we could be making," Gee says. "We are ready to continue negotiations when the union is ready to return to the bargaining table they walked away from. Both parties have agreed to engage a mediator to assist in reaching a framework for single-store contracts for our partners represented by the union."
If the Roseville and St. Cloud locations vote in favor of unionization, it would make for 12 unionized Starbucks locations in the state.
