Starbucks union drive emerges in Valparaiso

The Starbucks unionization effort has come to Valparaiso.

Hourly workers at the Starbucks located at 2310 Laporte Ave. in the Valparaiso Marketplace near Target petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) early Tuesday morning for a union representation election, according to a press release from Starbucks Workers United.

An overwhelming majority of workers at the store signed union authorization cards, according to The Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, the release stated. This is the second attempt at unionization of an Indiana Starbucks store since the first Indiana location unionized in Clarksville in July.

The national movement to unionize Starbucks hourly workers began when a store in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize in December of 2021. Since then, more than 270 stores in 37 states have voted for union representation for their 7,000-plus workers.

In a letter emailed Tuesday morning to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and signed by a majority of the store’s employees, workers stated: “If we want better conditions for ourselves to provide better service to our customers, we have to be the ones to create those conditions. Unionization is the only real avenue for change. For challenging the status quo. For holding ourselves accountable.”

An emailed statement from a Starbucks spokesperson at the company’s worldwide headquarters in Seattle who asked to remain unidentified stated: “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. As a result of the direct relationship preferred by a vast majority of our partners, we continue to work side-by-side with them to reinvent Starbucks for the future. Over the past year, we have announced nearly $1 billion in partner-focused investments — like increased pay, benefits enhancements, new training tools, and a range of store innovations.”

The Starbucks spokesperson said these investments, “where allowed by law” include: bringing the average wage for a partner in the U.S. to $17 per hour, newly enabled tipping on credit and debit card transactions, a new incentivized savings program, a new student loan debt program, an increase in sick time accrual, and an update to the family expansion reimbursement program.

The Starbucks spokesperson also said in the statement: “Union allegations that Starbucks is intentionally limiting partner hours to restrict benefits provided perpetuates a false narrative. We have consistently offered all partners who meet eligibility requirements industry-leading benefits access.”

According to company literature, part-time partners become “benefits eligible” on the first day of the second month after receiving at least 240 total hours over three full, consecutive months. This averages out to at least 20 hours per week.

Workers at the Valparaiso store attempting to unionize disagree.

A statement from the store’s organizing committee said the following: “Our store was the first Starbucks in Valparaiso. It was built in 2001 and has had the same manager for its entire life. Many of our partners have worked here for four years and above. Some have worked here even longer and have become community staples and highlights of customers’ morning coffee runs.

“We love being baristas and we love serving our community, but Starbucks as a company is making it harder and harder for us to do the things we love. Our ability to pay our bills, to keep our health insurance, to earn our sick time is diminishing while Starbucks continues to make more money than ever. We love our jobs. We want to keep them, but we can’t afford to work here unless conditions are drastically changed. Corporate does not want these changes. Unionizing is our only option.”

For an election to be conducted by the NLRB support from at least 30 percent of employees must be shown in a petition to the nearest regional office. Agents then determine whether the board has jurisdiction, the union is qualified, and there are no existing contracts or recent elections to disqualify an election.

The employer is required to post a Notice of Petition for Election shortly after the filing. It must be posted in conspicuous locations where notices to employees are typically posted. If the employer communicates electronically with employees this means must also be used to notify employees of the petition.

Agents will then seek an election agreement between the employer, union, and other parties setting a date, time, and place for the voting, as well as ballot language, appropriate unit, and a method determining who is eligible to vote. The parties authorize the agent to conduct the election once an agreement is reached.

If an agreement cannot be reached the regional director will hold a hearing and may then order an election, setting conditions.

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.