Litchfield Park Starbucks latest to unionize

Organization advocates for safety, work culture

Starbucks workers at a Litchfield Park store in Arizona won union representation in a Tuesday vote.

The location at Camelback Road and North Litchfield Road won representation in the Starbucks Workers United union in a 15-13 vote. The union formed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to advocate for Starbucks workers across the United States in areas including health and safety, hours and staffing, dress code and work culture.

“The freshly unionized Litchfield

Starbucks partners have joined the fight against the company’s hour cuts, inadequate staffing, disregard for partner safety, and refusal to bargain with the union in good faith,” James Seeberger, a media representative for Starbucks Workers United, said in a Wednesday news release.

Starbucks refers to its employees as partners.

When asked for comment, a Starbucks representative told The Arizona Republic the company does not offer statements about unions.

The Wednesday news release also said workers at the Camelback and Litchfield location were standing up to the faux-progressivism Starbucks markets, despite consistently disregarding the concerns and well-being of their workers.

“This last month has for sure been a test of our unity, but we stuck together in keeping our hopes high knowing we would win this together,” said Seeberger, an organizer and shift supervisor at the location. “Where there is unity, there is always victory.”

The store’s unionization came after at least three union workers in Arizona said they were fired in relation to their organizing activity.

How many Starbucks locations in Arizona are unionized?

The Camelback and Litchfield store is the newest to join other Arizona Starbucks locations and more than 285 stores nationally in the Starbucks Workers United union.

A Starbucks in Mesa officially joined the union in February 2022 after Starbucks corporate delayed their union vote by challenging a single store’s ability to unionize, a common point of union opposition for the company. Starbucks corporate, which launched a website detailing its union opposition, argued that all workers in a store’s district should be able to vote, rather than just the employees at an individual store.

Employees at the Mesa Starbucks told The Republic they support individual store union votes because day-today operations look different at each store, so forcing employees from other stores to participate in union votes would be unfair.

The Mesa Starbucks, located at Power and Baseline roads, was the first in the state to unionize and the second in the country.