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May 18, 2022

Two Starbucks locations in CT announce plans to unionize

Starbucks employees will see 5 percent raises as of Oct. 3. PHOTO | CNN Starbucks plans to close 400 stores.
By Andrew Larson

Starbucks workers in Vernon have stated their intent to unionize, part of a national surge in union organizing.

Employees at the Starbucks on Talcottville Road wrote a letter to CEO Howard Schultz announcing their effort, which was shared on social media.

It’s the second Starbucks in Connecticut to petition federal federal officials to unionize, after one in West Hartford, the Hartford Courant reported Monday.

Since August 2021, about 250 Starbucks stores across the country have filed union election petitions with the National Labor Relations Board, driving a surge in union election petitions not seen since 2015, according to NPR. More than 50 stores have voted to join the national union Workers United.

In the Vernon store’s letter, 15 named employees and others who remained anonymous, said Starbucks pays employees “poverty wages” and provides little support or benefits to employees, according to the Journal Inquirer.

The letter states that employees have seen a “dramatic decline” in their work environment and suffer problems with understaffing, despite being one of the busiest and highest-earning stores in the area.

A media representative from Starbucks wrote in an emailed statement to the Journal Inquirer Tuesday morning that the company is “listening and learning” from employees in stores that are unionizing, the newspaper reported.

Starbucks has said it will fight the unionization effort. Schultz told industry analysts May 4 that a union contract “will not even come close to what Starbucks offers,” according to the Courant.
 

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