Nine Starbucks locations have now filed for union representation in Oregon, including six in Eugene alone.
Eugene stores at Delta Highway & Green Acres Road and on the University of Oregon campus filed paperwork on Feb. 4, asking for an election to certify with Workers United, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
All told, the Oregon Starbucks petitions cover 199 workers.
In Washington, union drives are underway at Starbucks in Everett and three locations in Seattle, where the global coffee chain has its headquarters. Nationwide, more than 70 stores had filed for elections as of Feb. 10.
The company previously told the Labor Press it will respect the NLRB process. However, in recent weeks it’s been accused of union busting, notably at a Memphis, Tennessee location where a manager fired seven employees who were involved with the organizing effort. The workers say they were fired for violating policies they’d never heard of, and policies that had never been enforced before, according to Workers United.
The Oregon locations haven’t reported retaliatory firings so far. Still, workers tell the Labor Press a pro-union sign posted on a community bulletin board at the unionizing Portland Starbucks has been repeatedly removed by store management.
