Downtown Providence Starbucks becomes first in Rhode Island to unionize

1 Financial store becomes very first location in Rhode Island to win union, as historic effort gains momentum

Starbucks, 1 Financial Way

From a press release:

Starbucks workers continue to win union organizing victories in stores across the country, as workers at the 1 Financial store voted unanimously last night to join Starbucks Workers United. With a vote of 13-0, partners at 1 Financial became the first Starbucks location in Rhode Island to join Starbucks Workers United in one of the most rapidly growing organizing campaigns in modern history. 

“I’m so excited to be in solidarity with workers across the globe who are fighting for our rights,” said Hannah Gentley (they/them), who has worked for Starbucks for the last two and a half years.

The 1 Financial partners join a quickly expanding nationwide movement of over 9,000 baristas organizing together for justice, fighting for improvements on core issues including respect, living wages, racial and gender equity, and fair scheduling. The historic organizing campaign, one of the most successful in decades, hinges on peer-to-peer organizing led by workers, for workers - and has won election after election in stores nationwide. 

“We workers are igniting a fire of resistance and power for all workers in Rhode Island and everywhere in the country,” said Juani Cantu (they/them), a two-and-a-half-year partner.

Workers continue to organize and take direct action, recently winning essential changes to Starbucks mobile order policy after a massive “Red Cup Rebellion” with more than 5,000 Starbucks workers walking out at more than 150 locations across dozens of states. They are demanding Starbucks end illegal union-busting tactics and bargain in good faith with workers who voted to form a union. In more than three dozen separate decisions, federal administrative law judges have found that Starbucks has committed more than 300 violations of federal labor law, including 38 unlawful firings, refusing to bargain, and unlawfully providing non-union workers higher wages and better benefits than workers who voted to form a union.

Still, Starbucks union workers remain determined in their demand for fair pay and hours, safe working conditions, and a commitment to quality and culture that reflects the Starbucks brand they built. 

“Solidarity forever!” said Asia Sullivan (she/her) a 5-year shift supervisor. “Excited to be the first unionized store in Rhode Island, but surely not the last! Any partners who want to learn how we did it, call us!”

Since December 2021, more than 370 Starbucks stores in 41 states and the District of Columbia have successfully unionized — more than any other company in the 21st Century, as Starbucks Workers United has taken the industry and world by storm. More victories are expected to be announced soon, as partners at stores across the country continue to come together to transform their jobs and their industry.

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Partners with Starbucks Workers United are organizing to build a better Starbucks across America and is affiliated with Workers United. To learn more, visit SBWorkersUnited.org.