Workers at 5th Louisiana Starbucks vote to join union

Employees at a Starbucks in Sulphur voted unanimously to join a union, the fifth location in the state where a union election was successful.

Starbucks Workers United said employees at the coffee shop located at Interstate 10 and La. 108 voted 19-0 in favor of joining the union.

Lizzie Harlow, a shift supervisor at the coffee shop, said in a statement the unanimous victory was “the inevitable result of our collective hard work and solidarity.”

“I'm so happy that we went through a good fight and made history for ourselves,” Shawn Henley, a barista at the Sulphur location said in a statement. “This made me realize that we are just in the beginning phase of change and growth as a store.”

The Sulphur shop joins three Starbucks in New Orleans – one on Maple Street, one in the Pan American Life building on Poydras Street and one at St. Claude and Elysian Fields – and a Baton Rouge location on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard to vote in favor of a union.

The next step is for the National Labor Relations Board to certify the outcome of the election, Starbucks officials said. Once that happens, Workers United must identify a bargaining representative for the Sulphur location and send an initial bargaining demand.

Last month, Starbucks and Workers United agreed to start talks with a goal of reaching labor agreements. The coffee giant and the union have been at odds since Workers United first organized baristas at a Buffalo, New York, Starbucks in late 2021.

In a statement, Starbucks said it is committed to delivering on promises to offer a bridge to a better future for all employees.

“We respect the rights of our partners to organize and bargain collectively, and we are eager to reach ratified agreements in 2024 for represented stores,” Starbucks said.