See an earlier report on Starbucks unionization efforts in central Ohio in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Starbucks has seen a wave of unionization efforts in its stores across the country, with Clintonville the latest of nearly 20 Ohio locations joining the 425 nationwide to win a union election.
The Clintonville Starbucks at 3580 N. High St. won its union election by a vote of 17-1 in April. This made it the eighth store in the Columbus area, and the 18th in Ohio, to join the more than 10,000 workers to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. The first store to unionize in Ohio arrived just two years ago, at a store in the 88 E. Broad St. tower.
Clintonville Starbucks barista Lina Ali supported the store’s unionization, looking forward to “bargaining for a fair contract to improve our workplace, and to be a part of creating lasting change in this industry.” Her shop joins union-backed locations at Grove City, Ohio State University, West Fifth Avenue, West Henderson, Westerville and Worthington. Eight more are in the Cleveland area, and two elsewhere in the state.
Brittney Brown has been with the Worthington Starbucks for more than four years. After it unionized in November, Brown said he she has experienced firsthand both sides of Starbucks: pre- and post-union.
“Being part of a union, to me, is like an overwhelming love for the people in your store and your store environment,” Brown said. “You want it to be the best that it possibly can be, because you care about the people that you work with and you care about your job as a whole.”
To Brown, the most tangible change to come from the union was a shift in the balance between workers and Starbucks corporate.
“Equal distribution of power is the best way to put it,” Brown said. “Before, there was a lot of power on the Starbucks side of things, which is great, but there’s problems with power. If the power is more equally distributed, then workers have power to voice their concerns.”
Margaret Knecht started working at the Westerville Starbucks in March 2021, a year before the workers unionized in 2022. She said the location doesn’t seem much different now from other stores, but made a similar point to Brown about the unity that comes with being organized.
“We don’t really feel that it’s that different than a non-unionized Starbucks; we just feel that we have a very collaborative spirit at our store,” Knecht said. “That’s something that did come into play when we unionized a couple of years ago. A really nice aspect to our store is that everybody works together to solve problems.”
Knecht agreed, adding the Starbucks staff has become more self-sufficient as an organized group.
“Unions, at least from my perspective, are all about empowering the worker,” Knecht said. “Instead of feeling like we always have to turn to management to solve problems, we’re able to turn to each other. So, it feels like we have a say and a voice in our workplace.”
Other benefits of being unionized, according to a release from Starbucks Workers United after Clintonville’s union vote, include protections on core issues like respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling.
Brown and Knecht said their stores didn’t take much convincing when the idea of a union was first brought up. Instead, efforts before the vote were dedicated to education.
“A lot of people just didn’t really know much about unions,” Knecht said. “So, it came down more to educating people on the unionizing process and how they work for us. Once you’ve kind of explained those things, people are on board.”
One way of educating was showing Economic Policy Institute statistics to coworkers that demonstrated the benefits of unionizing, Brown said.
Both employees emphasized the importance of unionization efforts at Starbucks.
“The most important thing about having unions across the country is with more people on this campaign, the more powerful that union becomes,” Brown said.
“Whether you choose to unionize or not, the union efforts are helping both union and non-union stores,” Knecht said. “The fight is for the good of everybody, not just union or non-union.”