Two Starbucks stores in Sacramento file to unionize, becoming first in capital city to do so
A pair of Starbucks in Sacramento are filing petitions to unionize, organizers at the stores announced Friday, becoming the first two in California’s capital city to do so amid a growing nationwide campaign.
The stores are at Seventh and K streets, in Sacramento’s Downtown Commons area; and at 19th and J streets, in midtown. Employees at the stores were to file petitions Friday with the National Labor Relations Board to form unions, Starbucks Workers United said in a news release.
Workers from each store also sent a letter, addressed to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, emphasizing concerns about physical safety and staff shortages.
“Our hours have been cut and we can scarcely afford to live,” organizers at the midtown store wrote.
Union organizers alleged that “harassment, staring and vulgarities” and “violent and disruptive patrons” have become serious problems at the downtown store.
“People will throw drinks and cups, yell slurs and curse at us, and when we file incident reports, we receive no support from corporate,” Nick Mederios, an organizer at the 630 K St. store, said in a prepared statement.
If successful, the stores would be the first in California’s capital region to unionize, but they are not the first at which employees have attempted to do so. A petition filed by workers at a Roseville location in February 2022 was withdrawn in April; workers at a Starbucks in El Dorado Hills voted 7-2 not to unionize last July.
“At those stores where our partners have chosen to petition for a union representation election, our focus is to ensure that they can trust the process is fair and their voice is heard,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Should partners at our 7th & K and 19th (and) J Street stores vote in favor of union representation, we look forward to meeting Workers United in-person to begin the single-store collective bargaining process.”
Last fall, a Starbucks at 15th and Broadway in Sacramento’s Land Park neighborhood became the company’s first Northern California store to close down due to safety concerns.
A nationwide effort to unionize began in December 2021 with a store in Buffalo, New York, and marked the first widespread effort by Starbucks employees to form unions since the 1980s.
Starbucks Workers United in Friday’s news release said there are now 285 stores of the chain that have successfully unionized, with more than 380 having filed for union elections.
Friday’s announcement comes less than a month after a Peet’s Coffee store in Davis became that chain’s first U.S. store to unionize. Workers at two Peet’s Coffee stores in Davis filed their union petitions in November; employees at the downtown Davis location, at 231 E St., withdrew their petition, while the North Davis store, at 1411 W. Covell Blvd. voted 14-1 in January to unionize.
That union, called Peet’s Workers United, said it received assistance from Starbucks Workers United organizers.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 2:52 PM.
