Just two months after beginning organizing efforts, the Starbucks at 3012 FM407 in Bartonville voted 14-7 in favor of unionization Monday.
“It’s nice to kind of have that weight off our shoulders, but there’s still a lot of work to do for sure,” lead organizer Leo Baker said.
Partners at the Bartonville location began considering unionization after management failed to address employee concerns for months, Baker said, including that several trans baristas were being regularly misgendered. That’s when Baker, who has been with the company for two years, reached out to coworkers, and an organizing committee was formed. Now members of the 25-person staff who opt-in will join the more than 300 Starbucks locations nationwide that have voted to unionize through Starbucks Workers United and fight for a national contract.
The location is one of several in North Texas to unionize, with Denton’s Rayzor Ranch location joining SWU last June.
Support from the community helped energize partners ahead of Monday’s vote, Baker said, with more than 30 people from local labor groups and other members of the public showing up for a sip-in Saturday.
While a successful contract could take some time, Baker said the labor movement has seen a lot of success this summer, and the momentum is continuing to build.
“The more of us that agree to unionize, the stronger we are,” Baker said.
A successful contract will mean Bartonville partners like Baker can take a more active role in the future of the company, as well as express concerns without the worry they will be terminated for speaking out.
“I’m really excited to be able to work with corporate on a more collaborative level and for the term ‘partner’ to actually be embraced,” Baker said.
“They always tell us [that] as partners they want to hear our voices and work with us, but without the protection of a union, that’s never been true. Now we can go to corporate and have the power to make demands, and they actually have to listen.”
