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3rd Starbucks in Nevada files to unionize

A third Starbucks location in Nevada has filed a petition to unionize.

The workers at the Starbucks at the intersection of East Lake Mead Boulevard and North McDaniel Street in North Las Vegas have filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a news release. If the workers vote to unionize they would join the Starbucks Workers United, which represents over 300 Starbucks stores in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

Workers at the North Las Vegas Starbucks, in a letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan, cited issues with management including an “inadequate” labor model that understaffs stores and corporate policies that prioritize profits over workers’ mental health.

“We can no longer spinelessly carry on with our daily tasks while being actively exploited by management that hold all the policymaking power,” said the letter. “We have no choice but to come together and flex our power as workers, and unionizing will allow us to have better wage protections, valuable resources and tools.”

Starbucks has pushed back against these claims stating that it offers a wide range of benefits including an average wage of $17.50 an hour, medical coverage, college tuition reimbursement, 401(k) retirement fund matching of up to 5 percent of eligible pay and up to 20 therapy sessions per year for employees, according to a Starbucks spokesperson.

“More than 97 percent of our partners at our more than 9,300 U.S. company-owned stores have chosen to maintain a direct employment relationship with Starbucks,” said a company spokesperson in an emailed statement. “We recognize that a subset of partners feel differently — and we respect their right to organize and to engage in lawful union activities without fear of reprisal or retaliation.”

If this North Las Vegas Starbucks does unionize, it would join two other locations in Nevada that successfully unionized in the past few months. The Starbucks at Rainbow and Oakey boulevards unionized this past December and the Starbucks at Tenaya Way and Azure Drive unionized in March.

The workers at the North Las Vegas Starbucks will need a majority of its workers to vote in favor of joining Starbucks Workers United before the store officially unionizes.

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter.

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