FAYETTEVILLE -- The Starbucks store at Wedington Drive and North Salem Road has voted to unionize, a first for Arkansas.
The election results were 11 votes for unionization under Workers United with 20 of the store's 21 workers participating, according to a release from union organizers. The group petitioned to form a union with Workers United in October.
"We are fighting for a true partnership between the baristas and the company," Dylan Hartsfield, a shift supervisor at the store said in the release. "We hope that Starbucks will come to the bargaining table and hear what we have to say."
There are 264 unionized Starbucks stores in 36 states, according to a Workers United spokesman. Starbucks has more than 9,000 locations and has opposed the unionization efforts.
"We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores as we always do across the country," a Starbucks spokesman said in an emailed statement. "From the beginning, we've been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners, without a union between us, and that conviction has not changed. We remain committed to our partners and will continue to work together, side-by-side, to make Starbucks a company that works for everyone."
Arkansas is a "right to work" state that prohibits employers and employee-chosen unions from agreeing to contracts that require union membership as a condition of employment.