Arizona Starbucks Unionizes, Defying Conservative Norms

By Noel Stevens and Gabriel Rivera

Tyler Ralston was one of the leaders of the unionization effort in Mesa, Arizona, communicating with Starbucks employees in Buffalo, NY throughout the process. Photo by Noel Stevens.

This winter, a Starbucks unionization initiative that began in the bright blue city of Buffalo, New York, and has since spread nationwide, took an unlikely detour to Mesa, Arizona, where dozens of Starbucks employees successfully challenged the state’s enduring anti-union culture.

After a months-long struggle, the Mesa store became the first Starbucks outside of New York and the third nationwide to unionize—though over 200 of the franchise’s outlets are now organizing.

For guidance, the Mesa store turned to Buffalo, whose organizers took the Mesa team through the company’s union-busting playbook. They explained the tactics the company would use to try to foil its organizing effort, and the two stores stayed in contact throughout the process.

“It was kind of terrifying,” said Tyler Ralston, a shift leader who began the Mesa unionization effort last November with co-workers Michelle Heiduk and Liz Alanna. “We didn’t know if we were going to lose our jobs or not.”

Tyler Ralston was one of the leaders of the unionization effort in Mesa, Arizona, communicating with Starbucks employees in Buffalo, NY throughout the process. (Photo by Noel Stevens)

Arizona is both a “right-to-work” and an “at-will” state, meaning the employees who participated in the unionization effort could have been fired for their collective actions without any realistic legal recourse. The organizers were, however, protected by the National Labor Relations Act,

Federal oversight under the Biden administration has facilitated a unionization wave sweeping the nation. Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Starbucks, concurring with allegations made by Starbucks Workers United, a coalition of Starbucks storefronts actively organizing nationwide.

The act came after the NLRB found merit in the union’s claims that Starbucks surveilled, intimidated and threatened employees to dissuade them from organizing.

Starbucks Workers United is a coalition of the franchise’s locations nationwide fighting to unionize, a rarity in the coffee industry. Photo by Noel Stevens.

Caught in the maw of Starbucks’ union-busting efforts last winter, the Mesa store needed all the help it could get.

The number of staff allowed on each shift was slashed, leaving only two employees to run the entire store on occasion. The company also disabled the gratuity option on its app for the Mesa location, so when customers placed their orders remotely, employees often didn’t receive tips. Upper management even cleared out the back rooms of the store and closed off what was formerly a break room.

“It showed us the power that corporate has over the working class, and how much we don’t have a voice here in our own store,” Ralston said.

Brittany Harrison, the location’s former store manager, was fired for taking a stand against Starbucks’ union-busting practices, despite not being involved with the actual unionization process. She was pregnant at the time, and her firing helped fuel the store’s determination to unionize.

In February, the Mesa location officially prevailed. Now, the union is fighting for better pay, a more consistent credit card tipping system, better enforcement of LGBTQ+ protections and guaranteed maternity leave.

Future negotiations between the Mesa store and the coffee giant will have to involve a new agreement on wages, as Starbucks recently announced raises for all its employees except unionized workers.

Starbucks Workers United denounced the decision as the latest move by the company to punish employees who have unionized and dissuade partners from organizing, in addition to other standard union-busting practices like threatening to fire staff.

All three principal organizers at the Mesa Starbucks still work there. No other employees, besides the former store manager, have been fired for their involvement in unionizing.

Employees at the Mesa location have endured rigorous union-busting tactics, but none have been fired for their organizing efforts. Photo by Noel Stevens.

Other stores haven’t been so lucky. At a store in Scottsdale, the firing of 19-year-old Laila Dalton for attempting to unionize made national headlines.

“It was really sad because she is someone that loves Starbucks, loves her store, loves her people, loves the community and they lost someone that was like a champion for them,” said Ralston, who communicated with Dalton after her dismissal.

The unionization trend has yet to reach many Starbucks partners. Of the almost 9,000 Starbucks-owned locations nationwide, just over 250 have filed for unionization or successfully unionized.

Khayla, who is a barista at a Starbucks in Tempe, which is home to Arizona State University, chose to withhold her last name and said awareness of unionization efforts varies greatly by store. After conferring with her coworkers, Khayla relayed that most of them hadn’t considered unionizing even though the store is in a liberal college town.

“It just goes over most people’s heads,” she said.

But Ralston is hopeful all company-owned locations will eventually unionize. Expanding the grassroots support system started in Buffalo, he encourages employees of Starbucks or any other company to contact them on social media if they are interested in unionizing.

“We’re always looking to help people,” Ralston said, noting the message he wants to send other would-be Starbucks organizers is: “We know what you’re going through and we’re here for you.”