Workers at a Starbucks in Indianapolis on Monday filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board—a move that could lead to the city’s first unionized store.
Baristas at the Mass Ave location, 430 Massachusetts Ave., joined workers at eight other stores across the country who filed a petition this week to join Starbucks Workers United.
The national union, which includes an estimated 10,500 baristas, aims to provide bargaining power in order to “win justice at work, including protections on core issues like respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling,” according to a release from the organization. Across 44 states, 460 Starbucks stores have joined the national organizing effort.
A date has not been set for the union election. There are 20 employees at the Mass Ave location eligible for the vote, which excludes managers.
If the majority of those workers vote in favor of unionizing, the store would become the seventh in Indiana to do so. There are two union shops in Bloomington, two in Plainfield, one in Clarksville, and one in Valparaiso. Inside INdiana Business reported extensively last year on the growth of Starbucks unions in Indiana.
In a release from Starbucks Workers United, employees at the Mass Ave location cited specific concerns.
Aspen Henderson, a shift supervisor of six years, said in the release that “working in a downtown store has its own set of pros and cons. I often feel that Starbucks doesn’t really acknowledge or have systems in place to deal with the issues we encounter everyday.”
Justin Balogh, a shift supervisor for two years at the store, said some goals of the unionization that would “improve the experience for everyone” are more consistent hours, parking passes and assistance with security.
The Indianapolis location and the eight other organizing stores sent a public letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan this week. The workers expressed concerns regarding available hours and staffing shortages that result in high turnover and burnout. Starbucks commonly refers to workers as “partners.”
In response to IBJ’s request for comment on the Indianapolis unionization effort, Starbucks said in a statement that “we believe our direct relationship as partners is core to the experiences we create in our stores, and we respect our partners’ rights to have a choice on the topic of unions.”
“We are committed to delivering on our promise to offer a bridge to a better future to all Starbucks partners,” the statement continued.
In late April, Starbucks and the union jointly announced that they had made significant progress at the bargaining table. The parties met at a subsequent bargaining meeting in June, in which Workers United said the parties “advanced non-economic measures” for what will eventually be the framework of each single-store contract.
Starbucks closed a longtime location on Monument Circle in late 2022, saying in a statement that it will close a location when modifying store operations isn’t enough to make employees and customers feel supported. Some speculated that the closure was related to crime and homelessness.
Since then, local coffee shop Command Coffee has moved in at the 55 Monument Circle location. Starbucks chose to expand its downtown presence with a store on South Meridian Street that opened this year.
Starbucks has more than 17,000 coffee shops in the United States and 38,000 worldwide, employing 346,000 workers.
By Taylor Wooten, Indiana Business Journal
