Starbucks workers have voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo, N.Y., over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new labour model for the 50-year old coffee giant.
The National Labour Relations Board said Thursday that workers voted 19-8 in favour of a union at one of three locations that voted on unionization.
A second store rejected the union in a vote of 12-8. The results of a third store could not be determined because of several challenged votes.
If the labour board certifies the vote — a process expected to take about a week — it would be the first Starbucks-owned store in the U.S. to unionize. Starbucks has actively fought unionization at its cafés for decades, saying they function best when the company works directly with employees.
Elmwood location makes history
Workers watching the vote count over Zoom on a big screen at a union office in Buffalo erupted into cheers and chants of “Elmwood, Elmwood, Elmwood!” when the results at that location were announced. They jumped up and down and hugged.
Will Westlake, left, and Casey Moore, right, watch as votes are counted during their union election watch party on Thursday in Buffalo. (Joshua Bessex/The Associated Press)
“We still made history,” barista and union organizer Casey Moore told the others watching as it became clear the second store had voted down the union effort.
Workers at all three stores began voting by mail last month on whether they wanted to be represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.
Baristas waging the campaign have said they are organizing in part to have more of a say in the workload created by the company’s mobile app, which has left them struggling to keep up with surges in orders for Frappuccinos and other custom coffee drinks.
The pandemic has created a surge in mobile orders at Starbucks and other restaurant chains. The baristas in Buffalo and elsewhere complain that they cannot limit the number of mobile orders per hour, leading to unexpected surges they struggle to fulfil.
Individual stores can turn off mobile orders completely for their locations temporarily, but that requires a manager’s approval, the company confirmed, and customers can then order from other nearby locations.
Baristas said that adds to those other stores’ burdens, but the company said such shifts do not necessarily lead to overflows in other stores.
100 workers voted out of 220,000 in U.S.
The union vote involved about 100 workers, a tiny fraction of the roughly 220,000 Starbucks employees in the U.S. But a win in Buffalo could catch fire as baristas who have also complained about thin staffing and little control over workplace conditions enjoy more power in a tight labour market.
Since the Buffalo campaign was announced in August, three other nearby locations and one store as far away as Arizona have sought to follow its lead.
“We respect the process that is underway and, independent of any outcome in these elections, we will continue to stay true to our mission and values,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson told employees in a letter on Tuesday.
Employees who spoke with Reuters said they want higher wages, seniority pay and better staffing levels. But burnout from mobile orders and frustration with other tech systems has been an important driver in the campaign, interviews with five workers suggest.
“Technology was made for customers and not for employees,” said Moore.
“Without a union, we haven’t been able to voice how the technology could also work for us.”
A Starbucks spokesman said the company is constantly updating its app based on employee and customer feedback.
Reward memberships increased in pandemic
Moore and other employees interviewed by Reuters said they are not opposed to integrating technology into their work in principle but want more of a say in how it is developed and deployed in stores.
When Starbucks launched seasonal holiday drinks and gave out free tumblers in November, the mobile ordering system was so inundated with orders at one Buffalo area store that staff fell behind by as much as 40 minutes and threw away at least 30 drinks abandoned by customers, said James Skretta, a barista there.
Roughly 100 Starbucks workers, out of a total 220,000 in the U.S., at three Buffalo locations voted on whether or not to form a union. (Colin Butler/CBC)
The Seattle-based chain has about 20 stores in and around Buffalo. It launched its app in 2009 but added new ways to pay and earn points in 2020 as reward memberships soared during the pandemic.
The mobile order app “completely changed what it means to be a barista,” said Danka Dragic, a shift supervisor at one Buffalo area store.
Starbucks baristas are not the only workers who have balked at stores’ high-tech makeovers. Five workers at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. location in Austin, Texas, quit after becoming overwhelmed with mobile orders, according to media reports.
Walmart Inc. in June rolled out an app that it said enables employees to complete various tasks from their phones, but labour advocates warned the technology could open the door to more-stringent productivity quotas.
Union warns of ‘the creep of punitive technology’
A Walmart spokesperson said the app eases aspects of work, including scheduling, clocking in and communication for employees.
“Workers across industries are challenging the creep of punitive technology in the workplace,” Bianca Agustin, corporate accountability director at labour non-profit group United for Respect, said in a statement.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has fought to ensure sensors and other technology installed in United Parcel Service trucks are not used to punish drivers, and hospitality union Unite Here has pushed for tech aimed at boosting worker protection, including panic buttons for hotel cleaners.
Starbucks baristas also chafe at a performance management program that rates their customer service — especially because they are under pressure by other technology that tracks how fast they process drive-thru orders.
“It’s as though you are making drinks under the pressure of trying to defuse a ticking time bomb,” Skretta said.
WATCH | As orders increased during the pandemic, so did waste:
Starbucks brings back reusable cups as pandemic waste piles up
4 months ago
Duration 1:54
Starbucks is the first major outlet to allow reusable coffee cups since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while other chains, including McDonald’s and Tim Hortons, still cite health concerns, experts say the risk is minimal and environmental advocates highlight the excess waste from single-use items. 1:54
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
