Another Bloomington Starbucks files to unionize
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Workers at the Starbucks location at Indiana Avenue in Bloomington joined 17 other stores from across the country on Tuesday in filing a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board.
If the workers win the union election, the store would be the second in Bloomington—and sixth in Indiana—to unionize in the past two years.
The other locations that submitted filings are located in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.
National collective Starbucks Workers United said the workers are seeking protections on core issues, including respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling.
“Though we work at different stores, we are united through our shared experiences and in our demand for higher wages, fair and consistent scheduling, improved benefits, and a safe and dignified workplace,” workers from the 18 stores wrote in a letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan. They said they “believe that forming a union is necessary to address these concerns.”
Starbucks Workers United said the filings were made just days after its members completed a second round of national bargaining with Starbucks, noting that “the two parties continued to make significant progress toward a foundational framework for store contracts.”
Over 440 stores in 43 states and Washington D.C. have unionized since the first did so in Buffalo, New York, in late 2021. Starbucks operates around 9,300 stores; 220 of which are in the Hoosier state.
Five other Indiana stores in Clarksville, Valparaiso, Bloomington, and two in Plainfield have unionized since July 2022.