Vermont Business Magazine On Monday night, workers at the Starbucks coffee shop in Essex voted 16 to 6 to join Starbucks Workers United.
The Essex partners join a growing nationwide movement of 10,500 baristas at 460+ stores working together to bring collective bargaining to the workplace, including protections for core issues like partner equity, living wages, fair scheduling practices, and employee expectations. The organizing campaign has won election after election in stores nationwide.
Workers United-represented partners met Starbucks at the bargaining table again last month as they continue to make progress on a foundational framework that is intended to form the basis of store contracts.
The union said that hundreds of delegates representing all union stores are engaged in the bargaining process and hope to solidify a foundational contract by the end of the year.
Since 2021, more than 460 Starbucks stores in 44 states and the District of Columbia have successfully unionized — more than any other company in the 21st Century.
Starbucks Workers United is affiliated with Workers United (SBWorkersUnited.org).
Statements from represented partners submitted by Workers United:
Katayoun Lam (She/Her), Shift Supervisor, 5.5 Years Partner
“I’ve said from the very beginning of the union effort that we seek to unionize not because we hate Starbucks, but because we love the job and want to make it viable longer term. As partners, we’ve seen the job get more and more stressful, and we’ve seen the customer experience get worse and worse. Between constantly understaffed stores, long wait times for our customers, and pay that doesn’t match the extremely high Vermont cost of living, Starbucks isn’t living up to what we know it can be. With our union victory, I’m thrilled to have the chance to make the job better for all our partners, as well as to improve the customer experience for our fantastic regular customers. We’re all here because Starbucks can truly be a great place to work. This union will be the push it needs to get there. I’m also extremely excited to be a part of the larger modern labor movement that is happening in this country, and I hope that our victory here will spark even more union efforts across Vermont and the rest of the country!”
Sacha Yanulavich (he/him), Shift supervisor, 2.5 year partner
“We are very excited about this win and what it will mean for our store. This is the first step to an even better Essex Starbucks; joining Workers United allows us to bargain directly with Starbucks for what we need to keep partners and customers happy and connects us with partners from hundreds of other stores in the country who are trying to do the same thing. It is amazing to see how big this movement has gotten, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to be part of this historic moment.”
Caroline Rose She/Her, Barista almost 1 year / Owner of Caroline Sews LLC
“As a small business owner, working at Starbucks has been invaluable to building my business. So, joining the Vermont Union is even more invaluable for growing my business and connecting with other collaborative Vermont business owners. So, I personally am very hopeful for the opportunities this will bring for me in my business and for my coworkers.”
Source: 7.19.2024. Essex Junction, VT — Workers United, Rochester Regional Joint Board
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