Starbucks baristas in LR file for union election

Starbucks baristas at the Geyer Springs & I-30 location filed a petition for a union election on Friday (July 26), according to a press release on Tuesday (July 30).

With their election filing with the National Labor Relations Board, the Starbucks employees could join over 10,000 other workers who have organized under a union label.

“We want to form a union because we want better working conditions for everyone in our store, and especially for our coworkers with chronic health conditions who shouldn’t have to feel like they have to come in when they are feeling sick because of severe store understaffing. If we were better staffed, sick partners would be able to take the needed time off to recover, and remaining partners wouldn’t have to over-exert themselves,” said Tiffany Cervantes, a shift supervisor of 3 years.

“In order to create the consistent Starbucks Experience expected of us, we deserve to have our preferred hours met rather than reduced and to possess the tools required to lead successful shifts. Unionizing allows us to have a louder voice for the needs of our store that otherwise fell on deaf ears when using official Starbucks avenues to achieve change,” said Wysteria Nolen, a shift supervisor of a year and a half.

The election filing in Little Rock is one of 17 so far this month. Others include:

Speedway & Park – Tucson, AZ
Capitol Square Mall – San Jose, CA
Wheaton Way & Sylvan Way – Bremerton, WA (Seattle Area)
Beechmont & Five Mile – Cincinnati, OH
Holcomb Bridge & Holcomb Woods – Roswell, GA (Atlanta Area)
North Point & Haynes Bridge – Alpharetta, GA (Atlanta Area)
Sepulveda & Vose – Van Nuys, CA (Los Angeles Area)
Massachusetts Ave – Indianapolis, IN
Essex Junction – Burlington, VT
Broadway & Canal – New York City, NY
Woods Cross – 2600 S & I-15 – Woods Cross, UT
Mall at Robinson Level 1 – Pittsburgh, PA
Holiday Manor – Louisville, KY
Flatwoods Factory – Sutton, WV
16th and Walnut – Philadelphia, PA
Roy Rogers – Victorville, CA

Starbucks workers have been successful forming unions in states that include West Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and California. Since 2021, 470 Starbucks stores have won union elections in 45 states and the District of Columbia.