Springfield coffeeshop employees vote to unionize

An affiliate of the Service Employees International Union says baristas at a Starbucks store near the Brentwood Shopping Center in Springfield voted 20-1 to unionize on Feb. 11.

Starbucks Workers United is a part of Workers United, which is linked to SEIU, according to its website. SWU was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 2021 and describes itself as “one of the fastest organizing efforts in modern history.”

With the Feb. 11 unionization vote in Springfield, SWU says it counts 18 unionized Starbucks stores in Missouri. The union says it represents more than 570 unionized Starbucks locations nationwide, with some 11,000 employees.

“Starbucks as a whole can do better, and we are holding them accountable. We are demanding respect, proper treatment, livable wages, proper scheduling, and healthier work environments and conditions,” said Faith Melton, a shift supervisor of four years, in the release. “We are so excited that our moment has come. Any dream can become a reality.”

Springfield Business Journal is seeking comment from Starbucks officials on the union vote by employees at the Glenstone Avenue and Edgewood Street store, along with comment on remarks made by employees and union officials centered on that store’s working conditions.

It was not immediately clear when labor contract negotiations between Starbucks and unionized employees at the Glenstone/Edgewood store might begin.

The union argues that while negotiations between SWU and Starbucks have resulted in more than 30 tentative agreements on important issues, it wants to finalize a “fair contract” that would address “chronic understaffing,” wages that frequently start at $15.25 per hour in most states, average schedules of just 19 hours per week, “which is just below threshold to qualify for benefits,” prompting many Starbucks employees to rely on government food aid and health care safety nets, and the resolution of roughly 650 unfair labor practice charges filed through the National Labor Relations Board.

In Springfield, at least two other stores have voted to unionize, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting: a location at 1008 E. Battlefield Road and a location at 631 S. Glenstone Ave., the city’s first.