Workers at another Southern Nevada Starbucks vote to unionize

The third Starbucks location in Southern Nevada voted Thursday to unionize, joining a growing effort among employees of larger companies to organize around better working conditions.

 Workers voted 24-3 to make the store, located in North Las Vegas off Lake Mead Boulevard and McDaniel Street, to become part of a union. 

More than 330 Starbucks stores across the country have unionized in recent years, according to  Starbucks Workers United, the national organization that has helped coordinate Starbucks union drives across the country. A negotiated contract has yet to be negotiated and signed for a single store from that effort, although workers have been winning favorable rulings from the National Labor Relations Board for what employees call union-busting tactics.

Stephanie Torres Guzman, who has worked as a barista for two years and organized the North Las Vegas location, called the vote “a momentous occasion for all our employees and a significant step forward in ensuring their rights, representation, and well-being within the workplace.”

In recent years, workers have begun unionizing across the country at companies including Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks seeking better opportunities and wages. Efforts have grown despite companies being accused of targeting union supporters. 

Starbucks Workers United outlined demands around unpredictable schedules, low wages, unfair discipline policies and racism and sexual harassment. 

Among some of its proposals includes a base wage of $20 an hour with a 5% cost of living adjustment and requiring full-time status for those working an average of 32 hours per week along with benefits for those working less than 20 hours per week. 

In December, the first Starbucks in Las Vegas, located off Rainbow and Oakey Boulevards. voted to unionize in an 11-7 vote. The second store off Tenaya Way and Azure Drive followed suit in March and unionized in a 18-3 vote.

The North Las Vegas store filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board in May. 

Martha Garcia, who has worked as a barista for two years and organized at the most recent store, said the move was a “triumph of rights for partners” who work for the store. 

“As we celebrate our victory in becoming a union, we are also celebrating that from here forward we are building a stronger foundation in our store, courage and perseverance from all the workers in this store,” Garcia said.

Some Starbucks workers in Southern Nevada are employed under collective bargaining agreements. Starbucks workers employed at the Harry Reid International Airport and several hotel casinos are represented by the Culinary union.