First Starbucks In Rhode Island Attempts To Unionize

WARWICK, RI — A Warwick Starbucks became the first in the state to push to unionize.

Employees at the Pace Boulevard location sent a letter Wednesday to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz informing them of their unionization attempt.

"Unionization will give our store the tools it needs to provide the service our customers want," the letter read. "A partner soloing bar during an afternoon rush means drinks come out late, a delivery order doesn't get bagged, and the iced oat milk chai tea latte goes out the drive-thru window with whole milk. This is an action not just taken to improve partners' lives, but the store as a whole."

A Starbucks spokesperson in a statement said the company is listening to their workers in Warwick, but doesn't support unionization efforts.

"We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country," the statement read. "From the beginning, we've been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed."

The Warwick workers in their letter said the unionization effort was an act of "self-defense against a company that would gladly be rid of any partner who got in the way of their bottom line."

"In your response to the unionization of other stores, you've shown that this is not a fear without backing," the letter read. "As the first store in Rhode Island to petition for unionization, we hope our efforts can serve as an example for others in the state, and show them that a better workplace is possible."

The Warwick Starbucks is the latest effort from service workers to unionize nationwide. It comes following Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York, voting to unionize Friday. The first Starbucks to unionize was in Buffalo, New York, which happened in December 2021.

The company will now have the option to either voluntarily recognize the Warwick employees' union support, or workers will conduct a vote governed by the National Labor Relations Board.