Santa Cruz adds another location to Starbucks Workers United
Mickey Adams
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — Another Santa Cruz County Starbucks location has unionized, they announced Friday.
The 41st Avenue and Soquel coffee chain location voted to join Starbucks Workers United.
This new addition marks the 6th Starbucks in the Santa Cruz area to join the union, now one of over 600 locations within 45 states to have joined.
Starbucks Workers United saying that they are pushing to win workplace protections against issues like making a living wage, lack of respect, racial and gender equality problems, as well as scheduling and staffing shortages.
The union saying that they have filed over 100 unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks in recent months.
One Starbucks spokesperson responded by adding that the company respects their employees’ right to choose to unionize through a fair and democratic process, while working together to make Starbucks the “best job in retail.
“At Starbucks, our success starts and ends with our partners (employees),” said the spokesperson. “Hourly partners receive pay above industry average and best-in-class benefits, together worth an average of $30 per hour for those who work at least 20 hours per week.”