TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Almost. More than 15,000 Starbucks employees at 460 stores have formed a union According to the Starbucks Workers United union, the changes will begin in December 2021.
Now, a Starbucks location in Midtown Tucson is joining the movement.
Starbucks stores at Park and Speedway recently petitioned to unionize, about two years after stores at University and Euclid became unionized. Starbucks was the first to unionize in Tucson.
Shea Hollis, a shift supervisor who is leading the call to unionize, recalled starting to consider moving after Starbucks decided to choose the location to pilot its 14-week delivery program with just two weeks of preparation.
“When deliveries started to ramp up, that feeling really started to set in,” Hollis said. “We just weren’t set up properly to support deliveries and also support our mobile customer.”
The Park and Speedway location opened primarily for mobile ordering, as it doesn’t have a seating area like the other locations.
In addition to a lack of preparation, a lack of leadership was also an issue: “We were also going through a period of change in management,” she says, “so we didn’t have a consistent leader who could help us navigate such a big change.”
According to Hollis, it’s this consistency that Starbucks employees want from management.
“Even if there’s a change in the COO, even if there’s some change in senior management, the stores still need to be run the same way they’ve always been run,” she said, “so we need consistency from senior management to provide that consistency.”
The impetus for forming a union came from experiences at the university and at the Euclid store, “which definitely inspired our store to speak up and speak out,” Hollis said.
In addition to calling for higher wages for baristas, the group also aims to give shift managers more decision-making power over company directives. Hollis said Starbucks uses a labor tool to determine its staffing needs, but the tool often doesn’t accurately assess what a particular store needs in terms of staffing.
“Companies should give managers more freedom to support their staff and cater to their scheduling needs,” Hollis said. “They know their stores better than the tools they use, so I think they should be given the freedom to manage their schedules.”
Additionally, Hollis said, internal diversity efforts are often not run by the diversity group that’s being discussed. Partners are expected to attend these trainings without pay, she said, something the union is trying to change.
In response to the union petition, a Starbucks spokesperson said, “At Starbucks, we believe direct partner relationships are core to the experience we create in our stores, and we respect our partners’ right to make choices regarding union issues.”
Hollis said Starbucks employees could vote to unionize as early as July 15. KGUN 9 will continue to follow this developing story and provide updates as more information becomes available.
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Joel Foster Joel is a multimedia journalist for KGUN 9 and previously worked as an English teacher in the Boston and Tucson areas. Joel has experience working in web, print and video in technology, finance, nonprofit and public sectors. In his off time, you’ll likely find Joel hanging out in Tucson’s local comedy scene. Share your story ideas with Joel! joel.foster@kgun9.com,or Facebook, Instagram or X.
