Workers at a Starbucks location in west Little Rock voted Tuesday to join Starbucks Workers United, becoming the second Starbucks in Arkansas to unionize.
The workers at the coffee shop at 11121 N. Rodney Parham Rd. voted 12-2 to join the labor union, according to a news release from Starbucks Workers United. They join more than 410 Starbucks stores representing 10,000 workers in 43 states that have unionized since 2021.
That includes a Starbucks in Fayetteville, where employees voted 11-9 to unionize in 2022, Arkansas Business news partner KFSM reported.
“Winning our election was the most empowered I’ve ever felt in a workplace,” Lyra Jackson, an employee at the Little Rock Starbucks location, said in a statement. “I am so excited to see this movement continue to grow, and I’m hopeful that the upcoming negotiations with Starbucks will be the beginning of meaningful change.”
The labor union announced last month that it had an agreement with the coffee chain to begin discussions on collective bargaining agreements for represented stores and employees.
The announcement was a breakthrough for the two sides, which have been at odds since Starbucks Workers United first organized baristas at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, in late 2021.
The process has been contentious. In multiple cases, federal courts have ordered Starbucks to reinstate workers who were fired after leading unionization efforts at their stores. Regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board also have issued at least 120 complaints against Starbucks for unfair labor practices, including refusal to bargain and reserving pay raises and other benefits for non-union workers.
In Arkansas, the union membership rate increased from 4.9% of workers to 5.1% in 2023 but remained among the lowest in the nation.
The Associated Press contributed information to this report.
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