Pike Place Starbucks workers won't vote to join a union as planned

The union representing thousands of baristas at Starbucks has bailed on its attempt to bring employees at the Pike Place Market coffeehouse into its fold.

Starbucks Workers United pulled its petition Monday before voting was set to take place Wednesday, saying the revocation was tied to an unfair labor practice charge against Starbucks. The charge is related to allegations of interference with workers' organizing activity.

The Seattle-based coffee giant blasted the move to rescind the petition.

This prevents Pike Place partners from having the opportunity to make clear publicly whether they ever wanted union representation," Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said Tuesday. Starbucks refers to workers as partners.

The coffeehouse's baristas filed for union election on April 3, according to Workers United. At the time, barista Nailah Diaz pointed to "unfair treatment and operational issues without the support needed to succeed."

Not every employee at the Pike Place store agreed.

Barista Derika Muna, 27, told The Seattle Times on Tuesday that she unknowingly went to a union organizing meeting at the behest of a co-worker, believing it to be a casual meetup with friends.

When union authorization cards were presented to employees, "I pretended to sign because I did not feel comfortable saying no in the moment," she said.

The union didn't respond to a request for comment about allegations of misleading workers.

Shift supervisor Jaslyn Jimenez, 25, said the campaign disrupted her workdays.

"No one really knew who to trust or who to talk to or who they felt comfortable with, speaking - if they were for or against it," she said Tuesday in a phone interview. "You could feel the tension."

Jimenez, who has worked at Starbucks for seven years, said she does not support Workers United, and she wanted to express that at the election.

"I wish I would have been able to vote," she said.

Starbucks recently announced a new incentive rewards program for hourly workers, which includes potential $300 quarterly bonuses and tipping alternatives. Those changes will broadly take effect later this year, Anderson said, though they're subject to collective bargaining at locations with unionized employees.

Anderson said employees at the Pike Place location receive higher pay, with higher staffing levels to suit the demands of the popular location.

For now, the rift at the famous coffeehouse persists.

"Starbucks is continuing to throw roadblocks in baristas' path to organize and win a better future," barista Skyler Blair said Tuesday. "Starbucks is the biggest labor law violator in modern history, and their recent conduct at Pike Place is just one more example of interfering with workers' protected organizing activity."

Workers United said it expects to file an amended, expanded unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Starbucks.

It's the latest event in a lengthy history of clashes between the parties. Baristas in the union are pressing Starbucks for increased hours, higher take-home pay and resolution of labor law violations.

Despite over four years of bargaining, the first collective bargaining agreement has yet to be finalized.

Nationwide, more than 200 coffeehouses went on strike in November. Seattle was a focal point in these protests, with several participating in the metro area. Most of the striking employees returned to work the next month.

The Pike Place Market coffeehouse, 1912 Pike Place, is not the brand's original outpost, but it is the earliest.

And for now, its staff is sticking to the old ways.

"Personally, I do believe that unions are very important," said Lillian Mance, 24, a barista of one year at the Pike Place store. "I simply don't think that our store would have anything to gain from it.

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