The Starbucks union organizing drive has come to Madison. On Tuesday morning, workers at the Starbucks Coffee location at 1 E Main Street, right in the middle of Capitol Square, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union representation election after what has been called an overwhelming majority of signatures at the store from hourly workers there. They are asking for representation from the SEIU-affiliated Workers United. Kevin Gundlach, President of the South Central Federation of Labor, promises the full support of the AFL-CIO affiliate in this key national union drive.
Matthew Beede, a shift supervisor at the Capitol Square Starbucks and an organizer of the drive, on Wednesday described to WORT News some of the issues that convinced workers that they needed a union.
The company’s response—or non-response—to COVID-19 was a concern, Beede explains.
Workers were ready to sign up, says Beede.
That was Matthew Beede, a Starbucks worker at the Main Street store in Capitol Square, and an organizer of the union drive there. The full interview with Beede by Nate Wegehaupt of WORT News was aired on the 6 O’Clock News on Wednesday, and is available on the WORT website at wortfm.org.
Reporting Courtesy of Greg Geboski for Labor Radio
Image Courtesy of Noel Reinhold on Flickr