After seeing employees at the Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, win their vote to unionize, Shift Supervisor Jaylee Moore at the Santa Maria Starbucks on Broadway and McCoy decided her location could unionize, too.
“I’ve been working here for almost 4 1/2 years. I was the one who started all of the conversations and talked to all my coworkers. I wasn’t nervous about it; I was really passionate about it. We’re a really close-knit community at my store, so it was just another conversation,” Moore said.
After receiving union cards from the National Labor Relations Board, the team in Santa Maria will cast ballots from Sept. 9 to Sept. 30. If they unionize, which requires a 50 percent plus one majority to win, Moore said she hopes for better representation at higher levels and improved contract negotiations.
“My location is really important to me personally. I’m a trans woman and fully came out to be myself at this location. I love all the people I work with, and I just want to secure a better future for them,” she said. “Unions in general have been declining in the country for years and there’s been a recent resurgence in them. It’d be nice for Santa Maria’s community to come together, and for all of us to fight for the unions we want.”
A Starbucks spokesperson told the Sun via email that the company respects all the partners’ voices and their legal right to organize.
“From the beginning we’ve also been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed. As we’ve said throughout, we will respect the NLRB’s [National Labor Relations Board] process and bargain in good faith with the stores that chose to be represented by Workers United. We hope the union does the same,” they said.
The Broadway and McCoy Starbucks is the first location within its district—between Buellton and Pismo Beach—to take the step toward unionization, fellow shift supervisor Karina Sanchez said.
“I know we aren’t the only ones who are in favor of a unionized store; there are other Starbucks locations across the country that are also filing. It’s not something store to store; it’s something companywide we are all feeling. We just happen to be the ones who take the first steps in our district,” Sanchez said.
Stores in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz recently filed for and won union elections, and more than 200 Starbucks across the United States have unionized, according to the Starbucks Workers United website.
Sanchez said she hopes that with unionization, concerns like needed store updates and general safety will be better addressed, but she’s concerned about corporate’s response to unionization—explaining that she’s seen other unionized stores become “alienated” from neighboring locations.
“If we were to unionize, we might not get help from other stores—which is something we do on a daily basis. I just don’t think it’s beneficial to anyone involved—partners, customers, corporate—to not have the support from other stores,” she said.
The ballot count will begin on Oct. 9, with results following shortly after. Sanchez added that she hopes this location’s decision will encourage others in the local district to follow suit.
“Because we are the first ones in our particular community to be starting this, everyone who does support, it means a lot. We’ve had people come in and say, ‘Hey good luck.’ That means a lot to us at the store, because we are starting to see a little bit of the pressure as the election gets closer,” Sanchez said.
This article appears in Aug 18-25, 2022.