Jacksonville, Fla. — Workers at three Florida Starbucks stores won their bid to unionize Tuesday.
Two of those stores are in Jacksonville.
According to a news release, the San Jose Boulevard location became the first unionized store in Jacksonville with a 10-7 vote by the National Labor Relations Board.
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The San Marco store became the second, with an 8-1 vote.
The Curtiss Parkway store in Miami Springs became the third.
Action News Jax has been reporting since February about efforts to unionize.
[STORY: Starbucks location in Jacksonville joins nationwide unionization push]
Workers were looking for better pay and less turnover.
At the time, Starbucks released a statement that read in part:
“We do not believe unions are necessary at Starbucks because we know that the real issues are solved through our direct partnership with one another. And we believe every partner deserves to know the facts and to make their own decision.”
But after this week’s vote, Mayson Boykin, a shift supervisor at the San Jose Boulevard store, said, “We are so excited to have won our union election. This is only the beginning of a long journey to acquiring true accountability and democracy in our workplace. We want to thank our entire Jacksonville community for their support during these organizing efforts.
“It’s just so exciting to finally have a voice,” said Kayla Elopulos, a leader at the San Marco Blvd store. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds for my store and all the other unionized stores as well.”
There are now more than 240 stores that have filed union petitions across 33 states with the Starbucks Workers United Movement.
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