BOUNTIFUL — Employees at a Starbucks location in Davis County have taken a huge step.

According to a press release from Starbucks Workers United, employees of the coffee chain location at 422 W. 500 South in Bountiful filed with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this week for an election to unionize.

If successful, it would be the third Starbucks location in the state of Utah to unionize, joining stores in Salt Lake City and Cottonwood Heights. More than 300 company locations across the country have unionized, representing 8,000 employees.

Two of the Bountiful location’s workers, Jaden Anderson and Brooklyn Wiggins, spoke with the Standard-Examiner about why employees took the action and what unionization would mean for them.

Anderson, who’s worked at the Bountiful location for about one year, said a multitude of factors led to the unionization effort.

“Lack of consistency,” he said. “Management walking all over us like it’s not us who put in the grunt work as well as Starbucks making these promises to their employees and customers alike and not holding their end of the deal. We deserve fair pay for the work we put in and a safe environment for us to thrive.”

Wiggins said the decision to unionize came within the last few months.

“Around two months ago, my co-worker approached me with this idea,” she said. “After a plethora of different circumstances, I thought it was great timing.”

She added that there was some unease at first.

“There were some partners that were more on the fence about unionizing,” she said. “The hardest part was to try to sway them that unionizing could help solve some of our problems.”

Anderson said the process was, otherwise, very smooth.

“Once we got in contact with the right people, it was just all about spreading the word to our other partners,” he said.

Wiggins said unionizing would be a huge help to those working at the location.

“It means job security, the ability to not have to worry how you will pay rent,” she said. “It means we finally get to enjoy the job we once loved.”

Anderson also sees accountability.

“It would mean livable wages, consistent scheduling and better health benefits that go beyond basic care,” he said. “We’ve had to put up with a lot of bullying from our corporate higher ups as well and are hoping this can be a means to hold them accountable.”

He also had a message for customers who may be wondering, “Why unionize?”

“We deserve to be able to afford to pay our rent and grocery bills,” he said. “Many of us work very hard so that our customers can leave our store feeling better than when they came. With constantly being understaffed and equipment breaking on the daily, many of us are burnt out with their high demands. … Starbucks has clearly (been) drifting from these morals for a long time now. What Starbucks doesn’t realize is this is how you create a strong and consistent customer base.”

Wiggins said she’s thankful for the support of co-workers through this process.

“I am eternally grateful for my Starbucks co-workers,” she said. “They have done so much to help through the process and this whole thing has brought us all together.”

The process will take around six more weeks before an election is held and unionization is certified.

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