BLOOMINGTON — Starbucks employees in Bloomington are starting the process of joining a nationwide unionization network.
Starbucks Workers United, a unionization effort active in 38 US states, announced Monday that workers at the 3rd Street and 46 Bypass Starbucks in Bloomington filed the petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, June 26, to unionize, according to a release sent by Starbucks Workers United.
“We’re already one of the highest volume stores in Indiana, and the company has been cutting all of our hours, keeping us understaffed, and then demanding we get even more orders out the window to earn those hours back, but they never come,” said Stefanie Sharp, a barista and organizer at the Bloomington location. “We’re working three different positions at once while worrying if we have enough hours to keep our benefits, or even pay rent. We’ve been stretched to our absolute limit, and we’ve decided to stand up together and fight for unionization.”
In addition to the filing, the union network said the Bloomington organizers sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan to announce their campaign. In the letter, which can be read here, the workers said they “want to reclaim the power [they] deserve over [their] workplace”.
“We’re demanding fair pay and consistent hours,” the letter reads. “We’re demanding recognition of our rights to organize, as protected by federal law and as it’s enforced by our intrinsic power as workers.”
the letter cited the location as “one of the highest volume stores in the state of Indiana” and was signed by 13 employees. One of the reasons workers decided to unionize was the removal of a pride flag displayed at the store during pride month.
“To add insult to injury, our store’s pride flag was taken down at a time when being out and proud is needed more than ever,” the letter states. “By conceding to those who threaten homophobic and transphobic violence, you are inviting those people not only into our store, but society at large, and putting our majority-LGBT workforce in even more danger, while simultaneously profiting off of those same overworked LGBT workers that are perpetually dancing on the knife’s edge of poverty.”
In direct response to the employee’s concerns, the spokesperson offered the following comments to WBIW affiliate Fox News:
“As a next step, we welcome the opportunity for partners at our Bloomington Eastside store to vote in a neutral, secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB – which allows all partners to make their own informed decision regarding union representation.
On the union’s persistent allegations related to the LGBTQIA2+ community and partners…We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. It is inaccurate to report that Starbucks has issued a ban on Pride decorations as there has been no change to company policy on this matter. We remain deeply concerned by false information being spread about our inclusive store environments, our company culture, and the benefits we offer our partners.
Our store leaders remain empowered to decorate their stores for heritage months, including Pride Month. Partners in all U.S. company-owned stores are encouraged to work with their local leaders to find ways to authentically celebrate the diversity of the communities we call home within the framework of our established operational standards, Siren’s Eye appearance guidelines, and partner dress code policy.
All reported partner concerns on this matter are being taken seriously and are routed for leadership review and to be addressed.
On allegations of cutting hours… Partner work schedules are published on a regular, rolling basis three weeks in advance and are built based on recorded partner availability and the unique operational needs of each store. To provide additional schedule flexibility for our partners, we also provide partners the ability to view and pick up additional shifts at their home store and other stores within their district.”
A spokesperson for Starbucks also directed attention to a letter written by May Jensen, the company’s vice president of partner resources, for more rebuttals to claims made by Workers United. That letter can be read here.
