[US] Union effort launched at world’s largest Starbucks

In Chicago, workers at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Avenue — the largest Starbucks in the world — are seeking union representation, The Seattle Times reports.

Starbucks employees at the coffee giant’s 35,000-square-foot store at 646 N. Michigan Avenue, filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on July 14.

The prospective bargaining unit is reportedly comprised of the Roastery’s around 230 baristas and mixologists who prepare and serve elaborate coffee-based drinks and cocktails, bakers who produce the store’s pastries in-house and operations leads who work in retail and customer service at the five-storey megastore, according to the workers’ union filing.

Those working roasting coffee at the location are not retail employees and are not included in the unit.

When it opened in 2019, the Chicago Roastery was the sixth in the world and the third that Starbucks had opened in the US. The remaining US roasteries in Seattle and New York unionised in spring 2022.

In interviews with the Chicago Tribune, Michigan Ave Roastery employees reportedly cited concerns about wages, inconsistent scheduling and store management’s responses to safety issues at the branch.

“They’re constantly being like, ‘This is the only place like it in the world, we have to make like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it’s the largest Starbucks in the world,’” Lucy Polkinghorne - a Roastery operations lead - said. “If we were being paid in a way where we were treated like that important, it would be different.”

Starbucks stated that prospective bargaining unit workers at the Roastery are paid between $18.75 and about $30 an hour. Casey Moore - an organiser and spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United - said the majority of bargaining unit members make $23 or less an hour.

“The second that you ask for a little bit of respect, or the pay that you deserve, whether it be 60 more cents an hour, a dollar more an hour - anything like that - it’s treated like you’re asking for the whole world,” Jamie Williamson - an operations lead working in retail at the Roastery - told the Tribune.

Employees have reportedly raised concerns about overcrowding and fire safety at the Roastery - a tourist hotspot - particularly during the summer.

“It’s not safe for the workers, it’s not safe for the space. But the management only cares about the money,” said Kyra Supnet, a barista at the Roastery who was recently promoted to mixologist. “There have been so many times where we wish we could have had a say in whether or not they should hold the line at the door.”

Ms Supnet added that the megastore had also experienced nitrogen gas leaks from tanks used to make nitro cold brews and gelato. Employees also revealed that they were expected to continue working throughout recent tornado warnings in Chicago.

“We continued working throughout the entire thing,” Williamson (220 said. “I feel like part of the reason for that was there was a giant Wells Fargo event happening on the fourth floor that they didn’t want to have to move down or evacuate. And that was their main priority.”

Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said the company remains “committed to supporting our Chicago Roastery partners.”

“Our partners and their safety are core to our operation,” Mr Trull said in a statement. “We work with urgency to address any reported issues that may impact the well-being of our partners and the experience we offer at our Chicago Roastery.”

Starbucks reportedly said it adheres to fire code and capacity requirements at the Roastery and that all food service equipment in the store is cleaned and inspected regularly to ensure adherence with health and safety standards.

About 340 Starbucks cafes had unionised nationwide by early July, according to the NLRB. This total includes just over a dozen stores in the Chicago area.

Starbucks Workers United had a win rate of just over 80 per cent in the more than 400 union elections that had been held nationwide by the start of the month. However, unionised stores represent only a fraction of the company’s approximately 9,300 company-owned locations in the US.

The next step in the Chicago Roastery workers’ union campaign will be to vote in a union election held by the labour board in Chicago. If a majority of workers do vote to unionise, they will form a union represented by Starbucks Workers United.

Source: The Seattle Times

In Chicago, workers at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Avenue — the largest Starbucks in the world — are seeking union representation, The Seattle Times reports.

Starbucks employees at the coffee giant’s 35,000-square-foot store at 646 N. Michigan Avenue, filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on July 14.

The prospective bargaining unit is reportedly comprised of the Roastery’s around 230 baristas and mixologists who prepare and serve elaborate coffee-based drinks and cocktails, bakers who produce the store’s pastries in-house and operations leads who work in retail and customer service at the five-storey megastore, according to the workers’ union filing.

Those working roasting coffee at the location are not retail employees and are not included in the unit.

When it opened in 2019, the Chicago Roastery was the sixth in the world and the third that Starbucks had opened in the US. The remaining US roasteries in Seattle and New York unionised in spring 2022.

In interviews with the Chicago Tribune, Michigan Ave Roastery employees reportedly cited concerns about wages, inconsistent scheduling and store management’s responses to safety issues at the branch.

“They’re constantly being like, ‘This is the only place like it in the world, we have to make like a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it’s the largest Starbucks in the world,’” Lucy Polkinghorne - a Roastery operations lead - said. “If we were being paid in a way where we were treated like that important, it would be different.”

Starbucks stated that prospective bargaining unit workers at the Roastery are paid between $18.75 and about $30 an hour. Casey Moore - an organiser and spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United - said the majority of bargaining unit members make $23 or less an hour.

“The second that you ask for a little bit of respect, or the pay that you deserve, whether it be 60 more cents an hour, a dollar more an hour - anything like that - it’s treated like you’re asking for the whole world,” Jamie Williamson - an operations lead working in retail at the Roastery - told the Tribune.

Employees have reportedly raised concerns about overcrowding and fire safety at the Roastery - a tourist hotspot - particularly during the summer.

“It’s not safe for the workers, it’s not safe for the space. But the management only cares about the money,” said Kyra Supnet, a barista at the Roastery who was recently promoted to mixologist. “There have been so many times where we wish we could have had a say in whether or not they should hold the line at the door.”

Ms Supnet added that the megastore had also experienced nitrogen gas leaks from tanks used to make nitro cold brews and gelato. Employees also revealed that they were expected to continue working throughout recent tornado warnings in Chicago.

“We continued working throughout the entire thing,” Williamson (220 said. “I feel like part of the reason for that was there was a giant Wells Fargo event happening on the fourth floor that they didn’t want to have to move down or evacuate. And that was their main priority.”

Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said the company remains “committed to supporting our Chicago Roastery partners.”

“Our partners and their safety are core to our operation,” Mr Trull said in a statement. “We work with urgency to address any reported issues that may impact the well-being of our partners and the experience we offer at our Chicago Roastery.”

Starbucks reportedly said it adheres to fire code and capacity requirements at the Roastery and that all food service equipment in the store is cleaned and inspected regularly to ensure adherence with health and safety standards.

About 340 Starbucks cafes had unionised nationwide by early July, according to the NLRB. This total includes just over a dozen stores in the Chicago area.

Starbucks Workers United had a win rate of just over 80 per cent in the more than 400 union elections that had been held nationwide by the start of the month. However, unionised stores represent only a fraction of the company’s approximately 9,300 company-owned locations in the US.

The next step in the Chicago Roastery workers’ union campaign will be to vote in a union election held by the labour board in Chicago. If a majority of workers do vote to unionise, they will form a union represented by Starbucks Workers United.

Source: The Seattle Times