LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Coffee shops in Louisville are unionizing left and right.
On Jan. 11, the Baxter Station Starbucks in the heart of the Highlands won their union vote in a "landslide victory" of 14 to 4, according to a Starbucks Workers United press release.
Margot Mutter, Baxter Station Starbucks barista, said they feel energized after the successful union vote.
“I hope more people see this growing labor movement and take steps to organize their own workplace,” Mutter said.
In an initial letter to local management and CEO Howard Schultz, workers at the Baxter Station café expressed their motivations for unionizing:
“Partners come from every background imaginable and their needs reflect that. From mid-career professionals, to students working their first job, each one deserves more from this company and we are tired of waiting. Starbucks claims to care about its people, but can’t provide the bare minimum to humans working in a global health crisis. It claims to provide industry leading healthcare for part-time workers, but slash hours and unilaterally change policies making it nearly useless. At the same time, preying on the partner's fear of losing healthcare as a union busting threat.”
Baxter Station Starbucks Shift Supervisor Tamara Bell said they plan on continuing the fight for fairness in the workplace.
"Big corporations cannot keep doing and saying whatever they want while stepping all over hard working people," Bell said. “We fought long and hard for this victory, it may be a small victory but it is a great victory nonetheless."
This is the fourth Starbucks in Metro Louisville to unionize. Two local coffee chains: Sunergos Coffee and Heine Brothers' Coffee have also unionized recently.
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