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West Side Albuquerque Starbucks workers vote yes to union
Workers with the Starbucks at 9965 Coors Bypass NW voted yes to forming a union Wednesday.
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Starbucks workers at a store on Albuquerque’s West Side voted yes to forming a union Wednesday.
The 15-0 vote now makes the 9965 Coors Bypass NW location the second Starbucks to have union workers.
“Winning unanimously shows the deep trust and care we have for each other,” Kristal Martinez, a barista trainer of four years, said in a statement. “We’ve faced a lot together, and this vote was our way of saying we’re ready to build something better together.”
The West Side store joins more than 600 other locations across the country to form unions since December 2021, Starbucks Workers United officials said. Locations in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and Richmond, Virginia, also unionized this week.
Locally, workers at a Starbucks near Old Town formed a union in September 2022. At least one other New Mexico store in Santa Fe filed a petition to unionize in August 2022 but withdrew it a month later.
“We respect our partners’ right to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union or not to be represented by a union, and will continue to work together to make Starbucks the best job in retail,” a Starbucks spokesperson said.
Martinez previously told the Journal that workers, through unionizing, were looking to secure more hours, fair treatment and wages that keep up with inflation.
On Thursday, she said the vote “shows what happens when workers come together and refuse to settle for less.”
“We’ve proven that we’re not alone, and we’re not powerless, and this is just the beginning,” Martinez said.
