Employees at a Starbucks in Farmers Branch voted to unionize earlier this week, making it the 19th store in Texas to do so.
The union organizers ask for a livable wage, better working conditions, consistent hours, and better health care for all employees.
“Our partners at our store are standing together with every other unionized location to demand that Starbucks negotiate with us,” Sheridan Klarer, a barista and Farmers Branch organizer, said in a statement.
Following a 14-2 vote, the store at I-35 and Valley View Lane now joins the greater Starbucks Workers United. The union has grown to more than 360 stores in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
“We respect the right of all partners to make their own decisions about union representation," Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull told KERA News in a statement.
"While we continue to believe we can do more to elevate the partner experience at Starbucks by working shoulder-to-shoulder than across a negotiating table, we respect our partners decision at our 1-35 & Valley View store in Farmers Branch to elect union representation."
The Farmers Branch employees said in their announcement that they’re standing up to the “faux-progressivism the Company continues to use in marketing despite consistently disregarding the concerns and well-being of their workers.”
“We won’t tolerate bullying tactics,” Janelle Kinney, a barista and Farmers Branch organizer said in a statement.
The union claims Starbucks has partaken in union-busting tactics, such as firing union leaders across the county, shuttering union stores, and threatening workers' access to benefits. The National Labor Relations Board has issued over 100 official complaintsagainst Starbucks.
The CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz rejected this claim while testifying to Congress in March.
The National Labor Relations Board must next certify the store's vote to unionize.
Juan Salinas II is a KERA news intern. Got a tip? Email Juan at jsalinas@kera.org. You can follow Juan on X @4nsmiley.
