Workers at the Starbucks in Wantagh have filed a petition to unionize under the New York-New Jersey Joint Regional Board’s Starbucks Workers United, according to a news release from the union.
The Wantagh Starbucks, located on Wantagh Avenue, joins four other stores that have filed on Long Island; the Massapequa and Westbury Plaza locations have effectively unionized, the Great Neck store had a failed vote that the union is challenging, and the Farmingville location’s vote is pending.
“I believe that filing for a union is the only way to ensure that the work that I, and all of my partners do can be valued properly, and the only way to ensure that we can be treated as actual partners by Starbucks,” said Jake MacAvoy, who works at the Wantagh Starbucks store.
More than 300 Starbucks locations nationwide have filed petitions to unionize. The movement has been spreading since late last year, when workers began raising concerns about Covid-19 safety, fair wages, and other labor issues.
“I want this for my partners and I because we put so much of ourselves into this company. It’s time we had the assurance that Starbucks will do the same,” said Sam Tamborello, also an employee at the Wantagh Starbucks. “No one should have to worry if they are scheduled for enough hours this week to pay their rent. No one should come into work, hoping there’s enough people on the floor to do their job properly. This is a guarantee that Starbucks will provide us with what we need to be successful in our stores and in our lives.”
Next there will be a vote so all employees of the store have a say in whether the Starbucks location joins the union.
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