Tampa Starbucks employees want vote to join union

Baristas at a Tampa Starbucks are looking to unionize and if successful will be the third of the Seattle company’s local cafes to organize.

The cafe at 14394 N. Dale Mabry Highway is in the Shoppes of Carrollwood.

The baristas filed a petition last week with the National Labor Relations Board seeking permission to hold a vote. If approved, and the majority of employees approve the measure, the Carrollwood Starbucks would become part of the 11,000 baristas at more than 580 locations in 45 states that have already voted to unionize.

Locally, the cafe on North Dale Mabry Highway and Linebaugh Avenue unionized last May. And the cafe at 433 Cleveland St. in Clearwater unionized last August. 

Starbucks Workers United, the union, says in a statement that it has filed more than 90 unfair labor practice charges since the start of the year and accuses the company of backtracking on organizing and collective bargaining.

Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Stephanie Short, a shift supervisor for six years at the Carrollwood shop, says in a statement that the baristas want to unionize “because we all deserve fair hours, wages, and a work environment that is not falling apart with equipment that actually properly works.”

“We have received empty promises of more hours and staffing, and then instead it feels like the hours have lessened, partners that have left are not being replaced at the same pace they leave, and the workload seems to be ever increasing on each individual,” she says.

Starbucks, according to its second quarter earnings report released April 29, had 40,789 locations as of March 30. Of those, 17,122 are in the U.S. and 7,758 are in China. Its net revenue was $6.47 billion for the quarter, up 1% from the same period a year ago.