From the Article:
Workers at a Starbucks cafe on the Marquette University campus announced Wednesday they are organizing a union, becoming the first in the city of Milwaukee to join the national campaign.
Workers are organizing the store at 1610 W. Wisconsin Ave., with Starbucks Workers United, a new labor union backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The union has successfully organized more than 9,000 Starbucks workers at more than 380 locations across the country. The Starbucks in Oak Creek at 8880 S. Howell Ave. was the first in Wisconsin that successfully organized.
Employees at the campus Starbucks store have filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). There are approximately 20 baristas and shift supervisors who make up the bargaining unit at this location. A letter sent to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan includes the signatures of 13 workers — representing a majority of the bargaining unit — and a demand that Starbucks recognize the union and bargain with it.
A recent decision by the NLRB, called the CEMEX decision, has rebalanced the power between workers and management during unionization campaigns. The decision holds that unions do not need to file for an NLRB election and can assert union representation simply by presenting their employer with union authorization cards signed by a majority of workers.“After months – and for some, years – of being disrespected and ignored by upper management, our partners are tired of looking to them for solutions,” said barista Ian Shurbet in a statement released by the union. “We’ve been inevitably led to the formation of a union, one that can provide the security that our coworkers and friends have been asking to have for far too long.”