Employees at a Tampa Starbucks plan to vote to unionize

Employees at a Tampa Starbucks filed a notice this week with the National Labor Relations Board that they will vote to unionize, joining employees in eight other states in a bid to organize.

The employees work at the Seattle coffee shop giant's location on North Dale Mabry Highway and Linebaugh Avenue just outside the Carrollwood neighborhood.

A spokesperson for the group behind the push, Starbucks Workers United, says Thursday that the workers will vote in about two weeks.

It is unclear, though, how many of the location’s employees signed the petition or what percentage of the total workforce they make up. A second spokesperson says “that's not public information,” but a tally will be released after the vote.

As for Starbucks Coffee Co., spokesperson Rachel Wall says in a statement, "We believe that our direct relationship as partners is core to the experiences we create in our stores, and we respect our partners rights to have a choice on the topic of unions."

The Tampa workers are part of a larger group of employees nationwide who this week joined the effort to unionize. The others are shops in Arkansas, Iowa, California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

For now, though, it looks like the local union movement is restricted to the one store.

In all, Workers United says employees at 428 locations in 43 states have won union elections since the effort began in 2021 in Buffalo, New York.

Starbucks, for its part, claims it is open to the process and prospects of unionization.

In an open letter posted on its website Feb. 27, executive vice president and chief partner officer Sara Kelly says the company has begun discussions “on a foundational framework designed to achieve collective bargaining agreements, including a fair process for organizing, and the resolution of some outstanding litigation.”

“There is a lot of work ahead, but this is an important, positive step,” Evans writes.

“It is a clear demonstration of our intent to build a constructive relationship with Workers United in the interests of our partners. I want to acknowledge and appreciate the union’s willingness to do the same.”