On the heels of successful unionization campaigns at Amazon, Starbucks and a host of media companies, employees at the standalone Starbucks within the Strawberry Village Shopping Center (not within the Safeway Starbucks kiosk) are taking strides toward joining them.
The campaign, according to the Marin Independent Journal, “is being led by baristas who are in high school. The workers want increased starting wages for baristas, extra pay when the store is short staffed, credit and debit card tips and a voice in whether to allow mobile orders during a rush or short staffing.
“I love my job, I still love my job,” 17-year-old Ella Clark, one of the chief organizers of the unionization push, told the IJ. “But I don’t necessarily need this job to support myself like others do. I was looking into this movement and asked, how do I help?”
So far, the store has seen some pushback from the corporation, which has banned anything but company-sponsored posters on public and private bulletin boards, Clark told the IJ.
One complication could be Starbucks’ possible intentions to exclude unionized employees from new benefits. Howard Schultz, Starbucks’s interim C.E.O., told store managers that proposals meant to help lower attrition rates would not initially apply to newly unionized employees. The move raised questions from legal experts. Workers are expected to receive ballots in the mail between May 13 and June 3, the IJ reported. The vote count is scheduled for June 6.