Two SoCal location Starbucks unionize

The brewing moment to unionize Starbucks workers gains a new foothold in Southern California. The two stores — one located in the 3390 E. 7th St. in Long Beach, and the second at 4833 Candlewood St. in Lakewood — will now join two locations in Santa Cruz, as the first with unionized Starbucks workers in the state. 

"This is a huge message to corporations across the world that we cannot be taken advantage of anymore," said Josie Serrano, an employee at the Long Beach location. "We are getting together, we are showing that we have power together and we can do something really good for each other." 

Employees at the two Southern California stores voted almost unanimously to join Starbucks Workers United, which is an affiliate of Service Employees International Union. 

"It's been a fight for us to overcome the union busting that's been happening in our store, the anti-union efforts Starbucks has been pushing down our throats," said Tyler Keeling, an employee at the Lakewood store.  

Union officials say workers at 240 stores nationwide have filed for a union election. Earlier this week, two stores in Santa Cruz voted to join. 

"We're asking to be treated with respect, we're asking to be compensated fairly, we're asking to be taken care of the same way that we've been taking care of our customers the same way that we've taking care of the company," said Elizabeth Ruiz, an employee at the Starbucks in Long Beach. 

"There have been several occasions where I have been cursed at by customers, they've been very aggressive, and I just didn't feel like I could allow to feel the way I wanted to," said Crystal Villarreal, an employee in Lakewood. 

Some workers said their complaints and concerns weren't being heard by the company. But Starbucks released a statement saying they are listening and learning from employees. It goes on to say: 

"We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country. From the beginning, we've been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed. We respect our partner's right to organize and are committed to following the NLRB process."

"Workers build these companies, workers build these multi-billion dollar corporations, the least they can do is invest a little bit in us," said Ruiz.