Janessa Voyce, a freshman at the University of Oregon studying music composition, sat in her History 203 class learning about how America’s early labor movements went down in history. Little did her classmates know, she was making history herself at the local Starbucks where she works.
Employees of the Starbucks at East 29th and Willamette in Eugene began discussing unionizing after a store in Buffalo, New York became the first Starbucks store to unionize in December 2021. Voyce, a barista at the 29th and Willamette Starbucks, said unionizing did not seem like an option until she heard the Buffalo store’s success story.
If triumphant, Voyce’s store would be the first Starbucks to unionize in Oregon. “Our main goal is to really make sure we have a voice that can be heard by the company through unionism,” she said.
It only took three days to get 23 out of the store’s 25 employees to sign a petition to become unionized, Ky Fireside, a barista at the East 29th and Willamette Starbucks, said. The two employees that did not sign were out of town and on a leave of absence, Fireside said.
Concerns over Starbucks’ COVID-19 policies and low pay motivated the store’s employees to attempt unionizing, Fireside said.
Jake LaMourie, a barista at the East 29th and Willamette Starbucks, said he left his previous Starbucks store in Portland due to its unsafe COVID-19 practices and filed for unemployment benefits, which is allowed under federal law. However, Starbucks threatened to take him to court for doing so, he said.
LaMourie and Fireside said baristas cannot advocate for higher pay without organizing.
“There’s just no way for us to talk to them,” Fireside said of Starbucks corporate powers. “The union would provide that for us — it would provide some kind of seat at the table.”
Starbucks’ union-busting efforts in Buffalo also drove its store’s unionization, Fireside said.
“I’ve watched the company go downhill in seven years,” Fireside said. “We watched what was happening in Buffalo, and I think if they had just been allowed to unionize — if Starbucks would have voluntarily recognized their union — I would have looked at it and went, ‘Oh, that’s cool. That’s nice.’ But instead, Starbucks put up this huge fight, and it pissed me off.”
Starbucks Executive Vice President Rossann Williams released a statement about the Buffalo store on Dec. 20, 2021.
“From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we do not want a union between us as partners, and that conviction has not changed,” Williams said. “However, we have also said that we respect the legal process. This means we will bargain in good faith with the union that represents partners in the one Buffalo store that voted in favor of union representation.”
LaMourie said he has been interested in unionizing at other stores he’s worked at for years, but he felt the conditions were not right for such an effort until he entered the supportive environment of the East 29th and Willamette Starbucks.
“Our manager is awesome,” Fireside said. “And because of that, we have a bunch of really seasoned people at our stores. We don’t have high turnover. It’s not just a bunch of really young kids. We have people that have made a career out of Starbucks. We have three partners that have been there over 15 years.”
The baristas said the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive. “It’s been five to 10 people a day, from unions, just customers, regulars and people who’ve seen us in media, just like, ‘I’m so excited to see you doing this. Congratulations. Let me know if there’s anything you need,’ which has been awesome,” LaMourie said.
Voyce said her history class has helped her learn more about the unionization process her Starbucks is undertaking.
“I’ve been getting involved behind the scenes of organizing and want to do more community outreach,” Voyce said. “So I find that it’s something that I really care about, and something that really does help level the playing field between us, the workers and the real higher-ups — the corporate up there.”
Voyce said she thinks more people her age should be thinking about unionizing at their workplace, even if they are not in long-term careers yet.
Before the store can vote on joining the labor union Workers United, the employees will undergo a legal hearing on Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. They will hold a rally in support of their unionization on Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. at their store, located at 2830 Willamette Street in Eugene.
