SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Workers at a National City Starbucks store are looking to unionize.
On Tuesday, employees at the Starbucks on 3001 Highland Ave., near 30th Street, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.
The National City store would be the third in San Diego County to unionize – an Encinitas store unionized in May 2023 and a Hillcrest store unionized in August 2023.
In a release sent to the media, National City Starbucks employee Francesca Nicole Arce Cruz said, “I’m voting to unionize because we as workers deserve consistent work schedules, safe working conditions, and a living wage for what we do for this company. We tried getting this type of aid and help from Starbucks’ channels that they offer, but we never felt listened to; joining our union, we do feel heard.”
Anja Feller, a shift supervisor at the National City location, added, “Over the past 7 years at Highland and 30th, I’ve seen the value of teamwork. Unfortunately, upper management only prioritizes the amount of money we bring in. We support unionization to empower partners to promote from within the company. In our union, let’s create an environment where seniority is valued and internal promotions are encouraged.”
In a statement, Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said, in part:
“We believe that our direct relationship as partners is core to the culture and experiences we create in our stores. To that end, wherever we can quickly and broadly improve partner benefits and perks, our history demonstrates we have. We recognize that a subset of partners feel differently and we respect their right to organize and bargain collectively, and we are eager to reach ratified agreements in 2024 for represented stores. Our commitment to offer all partners a bridge to a better future remains unchanged.
As a next step, we welcome the opportunity for each partner at our Highland & 30th store in National City, California, to vote in a neutral, secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB — which allows all partners to make their own informed decision regarding union representation.”
