A Soquel Starbucks became the sixth location in the Santa Cruz area to unionize after workers voted Thursday to join Starbucks Workers United.
The location at 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive voted 11-2 to join the union representing Starbucks employees across the country.
“Winning our election has filled me with pride in my team and hope for the future,” barista Aidan Hall Guzman said in a news release. “Joining the union has given us the opportunity to advocate for the respect we deserve as human beings, and as the true faces of the company.”
The victory comes just over four months after the Starbucks on Mount Hermon Road in Scotts Valley won its election by a 15-3 vote in early March. The locations on Ocean Street and Mission Street in Santa Cruz became the first to vote in favor of unionization in California in 2022, while a third followed later that year.
The major unionization movement started in 2021 in Buffalo, New York, when a store in the city became the first Starbucks location in the United States to unionize.
Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.
