SPOKANE, Wash. — Employees of the Wellesley Avenue Starbucks are now officially part of a union.
Workers of the Wellesley and Belt store won union representation in a 12-4 vote on Friday. The employees are now part of the more than 8,000 Starbucks baristas who have unionized to date.
“I’m proud of us sticking together and sticking through all of the tribulations to fight for what’s right,” said Kassie, a shift supervisor at the store.
The Wellesley Avenue Starbucks employees filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to unionize with Starbucks Workers United in April.
“We are tired of being treated as expendable, replaceable, and frankly disrespected,” the Spokane workers wrote in a letter to new CEO Laxman Narasimhan. “The company cannot operate without workers. We are the face of Starbucks, and backbone. Our labor creates profit for the company. Instead of acting like our voices as partners are heard, we are going to stand united demanding to be heard.”
At least 293 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-owned U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late 2021, according to the NLRB.
KREM 2 reached out to Starbucks for comment on the union vote but has not heard back.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.
