Downtown Iowa City Starbucks employees make history as first store in Iowa to unionize
Iowa City’s downtown Starbucks made history Thursday evening by becoming the state's first location to unionize thanks to a unanimous vote.
The election was held at the Hilton Garden Inn just a few hundred feet from where Starbucks baristas and shift supervisors employed as of April 3 were eligible to vote. Thirty-one employees work at the 228 S. Clinton St. store, according to a filing with the National Labor Relations Board, though the union will exclude store managers, various and others.
Luis Aispuro, an employee at the downtown Starbucks, told the Press-Citizen in a phone call the vote was a landslide, prevailing 25-0 in favor of unionizing out of 30 eligible voters.
Iowa's first Starbucks union will be represented by the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU in collective bargaining.
“It's amazing to be a part of a greater national movement,” Aispuro said. “We're jumping in on the fight here with all the other stores that are unionizing because Starbucks has been aggressively union-busting so the more stores that hop on, then they'll have to start negotiating with stores and stuff. So, it's really empowering.”
Why did Iowa City downtown Starbucks employees want to unionize?
The election comes a little more than a month after a few local workers announced on social media their plan to unionize, citing safety concerns, a need for consistent schedules and wages, as well as other issues.
The local coffee shop hosted a “Sip-in” Monday morning where employees and others in favor of unionizing gathered to show their support.
Starbucks employee Emma Burriola told the Press-Citizen Monday unionization would address concerns she had about local management, saying the shop is consistently short-staffed and strong leadership has dwindled.
In April, a Starbucks location in Sacramento, California became the 300th location in the coffee corporation to vote to unionize, according to CBS News Sacramento. Stores across Starbucks’ 9,000 U.S. locations have voted to unionize since late 2021.
More: Iowa City Starbucks employees host "sip-in" demonstration Monday morning, push for union
What’s next for the employees at the downtown Iowa City Starbucks?
Starbucks and Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board, Workers United/SEIU will bargain over the terms and conditions of employment for the Iowa City workers, according to the NLRB.
The union is a step forward for a group fed up with waiting for an agreement to be reached.
“One of the many issues, the union-busting tactics they've been doing, is that they've just been refusing to sit down and negotiate the contract,” Aispuro said. “We'll just have to wait and see what the next couple of days bring. We're just going to take this one step at a time.”
The parties involved can file an objection and an offer of proof supporting its rejections within seven days of the vote count though, according to the NLRB.
Andrew Trull, senior manager of corporate communications at Starbucks, told the Press-Citizen in a phone call Friday morning of the next steps that will occur following Thursday’s vote. That includes the NLRB certifying the vote, that no objections are filed by either party and initiation of the bargaining process.
Trull said first contract typically takes a number of bargaining sessions regarding concerns the process may go longer than what is deemed “good faith.” He said after a series of negotiations when terms are discussed and tentatively agreed upon, the contract will be voted on by union members at the store.
“It is not, I’d say, a one and done process,” Trull said. “Starbucks is committed to meeting in-person with union representatives for that store to move the good faith bargaining process forward to discuss proposals and move towards a first contract.”
Downtown Iowa City Starbucks’ efforts to unionize comes after former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz testified in a Senate hearing in March regarding whether the company violated federal labor laws.
The NLRB filed more than 80 complaints against Starbucks for violating federal labor laws highlighted by charges that included the illegal firing of Starbucks workers for pushing to form a union.
Monday’s “Sip-in” in Iowa garnered support from local politicians including Iowa City Councilor Megan Alter as well as state Sen. Janice Weiner. Jen Sherer, president of the Iowa City Federation of Labor, said the federation will support Starbucks employees even after the election.
“They have a long fight to win,” Sherer said on Monday. “Starbucks has been relentless in trying to clear that community support.”
More: Starbucks unionization drive reaches Iowa as Iowa City workers file for union election
USA TODAY and the Des Moines Register contributed to this article.
Paris Barraza covers entertainment, lifestyle and arts at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach her at PBarraza@press-citizen.com or 319-519-9731. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Downtown Iowa City Starbucks employees unionize in unanimous vote
