Heights Starbucks Workers Look To Unionize

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Employees at a Cleveland Heights Starbucks want to unionize, according to a statement from Workers United.

The employees work at the Starbucks at 3093 Mayfield Road. They join unionization efforts launched at two Cleveland stores: the W. 6th Starbucks and the Starbucks at 11623 Clifton Boulevard.

"We're not anti-Starbucks. We're not simply partners. We're stockholders [in Starbucks]. There are a number of us who are senior partners. We simply want the company to be more equitable to its partners," said Richard Trojanski, 43, a senior partner at the Mayfield Road Starbucks.

The Heights Starbucks employees will file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday.

“We are excited to welcome our friends at the Clifton and MayLee stores into our fight! We are
stronger together, and every day we are one step closer to securing justice and equity in our
workplaces. We couldn’t be prouder of all of our partners involved in making this happen for
themselves today," said Maddie VanHook, a barista at the W. 6th store.

Workers United and employees looking to unionize sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson arguing that the company saw record profits in 2021, yet employee hours are being cut and wages are "unlivable."

"We beg for simple adjustments like credit card tipping, yet district managers respond with blanket statements such as “Yeah that’s frustrating,” without ever enacting change or following up… We cannot pour from an empty cup… If we truly are partners and our well-being is important to you, you will side with us in this effort to unionize," the letter read.

Workers United is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

A Starbucks spokesperson said the company has not yet received the petition to form a union at the Clifton Boulevard or Cleveland Heights stores, but the company will follow the National Labor Relations Board process once the petitions are filed.

"This is an opportunity to listen and learn from these partners," the spokesperson told Patch.

A full statement from the spokesperson is below:

We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country.

From the beginning, we've been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed. Starbucks success—past, present, and future—is built on how we partner together, always with Our Mission and Values at our core.

As Rossann Williams, evp and president, North America, recently shared, with our partners "the vote outcomes will not change our shared purpose or how we will show up for each other. … We will keep listening, we will keep connecting and we will keep being in service of one another because that's what we've always done and what it means to be partner."