LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Employees at a handful of Starbucks stores in Michigan are demanding that Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson recognize their union.
One of those locations is in Lansing, on Lake Lansing Rd, to be exact.
Employees at the Starbucks locations are joining the ever-growing Starbucks Workers United movement.
On Jan. 28, Baristas in Ann Arbor, Grand Blanc, and Clinton Township announced their goal to unionize, as the majority of eligible employees at all four locations have signed union authorization cards, as well as filing petitions for union elections with the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbucks workers are organizing with Workers United, a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) affiliate.
SEIU is the same union that backed unionization efforts at the chain in Buffalo, NY last December.
The following store locations’ employees recently announced they are demanding union recognition:
- 2624 Lake Lansing Rd, Lansing, MI 48912
- 222 S State, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
- 1214 South University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 and
- 300 South Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Workers emailed a letter to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson:
“We routinely feel as if we are being ignored by Starbucks upper management when new policies
Letter signed by the Union Organizing Committee at the Starbucks location on 300 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI
continuously come from the top down with little avenue for partner feedback… We routinely
suffer abuse at the hands of uncaring customers, while lean staffing practices mean we have very
little time to respond to negative or positive customer interactions. We have been demanded to
act as therapists or sponsors for our homeless population… with no additional training or
compensation. We have put our lives on the line to serve the public and further this company’s
success. Things need to change. We need to move from a system that treats partners as
disposable employees to a more sustainable, true partnership… We, the union organizing
committee at Main & Liberty respectfully and formally demand that Starbucks recognize our
union, ”
