Oak Creek Starbucks Workers Vote In Favor Of Unionization: First In WI

OAK CREEK, WI — Starbucks workers at the 8880 Howell Avenue location in Oak Creek voted 15-8 in favor of union representation by the Chicago & Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, according to a news release from the union.

The National Labor Relations Board election results make the location the first successful Starbucks union in Wisconsin. Workers at other Starbucks locations in Wisconsin, such as one in Plover, have also come out with intentions to unionize, according to previous news releases from the union.

Employees at the Oak Creek location announced their union drive in February with a letter to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson. A majority of workers at the store had signed authorization cards at the time, according to Mary Floreani, a Workers United organizer.

Hannah Fogarty, a South Milwaukee resident and employee at the Oak Creek location, told Patch over the phone Thursday she's not surprised but excited with the results.

Fogarty said she and others at the store have been skimming over what other Starbucks unions have been bargaining for as they prepare for their own negotiations.

"We are so proud to be the first union Starbucks in Wisconsin and hope even more stores will follow in our footsteps," Fogarty said in the news release.

While it's the first Starbucks in Wisconsin to vote in favor of union representation, it's not the first coffee shop in the state to do so. Workers at Colectivo, a craft coffee company, have been making headway toward negotiations after the NLRB rejected the company's appeal of the union vote, according to a report by Wisconsin Examiner.

SEE ALSO: Oak Creek Starbucks Workers Make Bid For First Union In Wisconsin

Part of the union drive was about having a voice and securing financial security, organizing workers told Patch in February.

"We deserve to make enough money to have a savings account, to pay our bills and fix our cars," Fogarty told Patch.