11th Starbucks store in Michigan votes to unionize as coffee workers continue to organize
Of the 13 Starbucks stores that voted to unionize in Michigan so far, only two voted against it
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Eleven Starbucks stores in Michigan have voted to unionize.
A Starbucks store in Mount Pleasant voted overwhelmingly to form a union on Monday, becoming the 11th Starbucks store in Michigan to so.
Baristas at the 5655 E. Pickard Rd. store voted 10-1 in favor of unionizing, joining a growing labor movement sweeping across the country.
“This union win is a show of the care we have for one another, and we are committed to protecting each other,” the Mount Pleasant workers said in a statement. “We stand together strong, and as a united front because we believe by working in partnership with one another, we can secure a safer, healthier, and happier work environment.”
Since December, at least 235 Starbucks stores in 33 states have voted to unionize, according to A More Perfect Union, a nonprofit that tracks labor unions.
Baristas are asking for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
Michigan joined the movement in May, when Starbucks workers at 2480 Burton St. in Grand Rapids voted in favor of forming a union, 15-3.
On June 7, four Starbucks stores in Ann Arbor voted to unionize. One Ann Arbor store voted against it.
Two days later, four more Starbucks stores in Clinton Township, Lansing, Flint, and East Lansing voted to form a union. A store in Grand Blanc voted not to unionize.
On June 17, a Starbucks store in Ypsilanti voted to unionize.
The labor movement has grown beyond Starbucks. In Detroit, employees at Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co. went on strike in February as part of a move to unionize. In August, the workers withdrew from an election to form a union because the company has been closing its stores.
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