Workers at a Starbucks in Cleveland could be the first in Ohio to be unionized. They are joining the Starbucks Workers United movement that first took root in Buffalo, N.Y.
Madison Vanhook is a shift supervisor at the West 6th Street location and one of the workers advocating to unionize. She said unionizing will help them have a voice in decision making about their work environment.
“We kind of feel like that’s not fair most of the time because it can be hard to sort of reconcile what’s actually happening in our day to day with some of the decisions coming down all the way from the top, in terms of COVID or just general, like service industry work in general,” she said.
Vanhook said workers had expressed concerns about Starbucks’ handling of COVID guidelines. She said they also hope to get better pay and benefits in line with the increasing cost of living.
When asked for comment, Starbucks responded by email that it did not have anyone available for an interview at this time.
Copyright 2022 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.
