Biddeford Starbucks workers seek to unionize
Workers at the Biddeford Starbucks filed a petition seeking to become the first location in Maine to unionize, marking the latest effort among Maine workers across industries to seek to form unions.
The workers filed a petition on Friday with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking to unionize with Workers United, which is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.
The six workers, along with some who wished to remain anonymous, publicly signed a letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz about their desire to unionize, citing unfair unrealistic expectations during the pandemic, insufficient staffing, overwork and low wages, among other issues.
“Through unionizing, we hope to rebuild the company that once valued us as partners,” the letter to Schultz said. “We are the face of Starbucks. We deserve a seat at the table, and to have our voices heard and dignified.”
“We have been overworked, underpaid, and burnt out to the core. We are tired,” the letter said. “We’ve continued to make every moment mean something, even though our hours have been cut drastically, our income threatened and our benefits taken away.”
Maine is the 35th state to have a store file a petition for election, the union said. Workers have filed for a union election at more than 260 of the company’s 9,000 stores across the country. A Buffalo, N.Y., store became the first to successfully unionize in December.
"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 said in a statement. "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.”
All three Democratic leaders of the Maine House of Representatives expressed support for the Biddeford Starbucks workers Friday in a joint news release.
“Biddeford has a long history of labor organizing going back to Maine workers fighting for better conditions in the textile mills,” said House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford. “Today, Biddeford’s Starbucks employees in my legislative district are making the choice to form a collective voice to advocate for themselves and strengthen their workplace. I am proud this movement is galvanizing Maine workers!”
Fecteau’s support was backed by House Majority Leader Michelle Dunphy, D-Old Town, and Assistant Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland.
In the past year, other workers in Maine have unionized or in the process of trying to form a union, including those at Maine Medical Center, the Bangor Daily News, the Portland Museum of Art, Bates College, Waterville KVCAP, Biddeford-Saco-Old Orchard Beach Transit and the Kittery Water District.
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