'We are ecstatic': Louisville Starbucks first in Kentucky to vote for unionization
Workers at a Louisville Starbucks on Thursday became the first group of the coffee chain's employees in Kentucky to unionize, according to a statement from their union.
Workers at the store, at 2911 Factory Lane, voted 19-5 to unionize, according to Mary Celeste "MC" Floreani, an organizer with Workers United & the Starbucks Workers United Campaign.
The Seattle-based company, which has more than 60 stores in the Louisville area, has previously said the company still opposes the unionization process but is committed to working with employees.
“We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country," a spokesperson said on Thursday. "From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed. We respect our partner’s right to organize and are committed to following the NLRB process.”
The count was recorded at a meeting that included store workers and representatives of Starbucks and the National Labor Relations Board, according to Fern Potter, an 18-year-old shift supervisor.
"It was crazy, we were all so ecstatic," Potter said. "We are so overjoyed."
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Workers at the store are the first in Kentucky to unionize, according to Floreani's statement, which said workers at more than 200 Starbucks across the nation have filed for elections to be represented by her group. As of March, almost 135 stores across the country had voted to unionize since December 2021, according to USA Today.
Starbucks is not the only coffee chain to face unionization efforts in Louisville. In April baristas at 15 of the 18 locations run by Louisville-based Heine Brothers announced their intentions to organize.
Once a union becomes certified or recognized, a company is required to bargain over terms and conditions of employment with a union representative, the NLRB website says.
Potter said the Louisville Starbucks workers will organize a committee that will ask workers what they want in contract negotiations.
"We don't anticipate it'll be easy," Potter said of the bargaining process.
The company has said that average hourly pay at Starbucks will be nearly $17 an hour nationally as of Aug. 1. All partners hired on or before May 2 will get either a 3% raise or $15 an hour, whichever is higher.
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Reach Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez at abrinez@gannett.com; follow her on Twitter at @SoyAnaAlvarez
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Starbucks workers first in chain to unionize in Kentucky
