The union organizing some BC Starbucks coffee shops scored a big win at the BC Labour Relations Board, which ruled Thursday that workers at multiple locations could be in one bargaining unit.
After the Powell River Starbucks unionized last year, United Steelworkers Local 2009 folded the workers into the bargaining unit negotiating the first collective agreement for two Metro Vancouver locations. But Starbucks argued that expanding that bargaining unit to include Powell River would make negotiations more complicated and increase the likelihood of work stoppages and other labour disputes.
In its decision, the board rejected Starbucks’ attempt to block the expansion, allowing approximately 75 workers at the three locations to try to negotiate a single collective agreement. The decision is the latest in a series of legal challenges that have marked USW Local 2009’s drive to organize baristas across the province and underscores the provincial labour tribunal’s preference for larger collective bargaining units under a single employer.
In court documents, the board said its decision hinges on the fundamental principle that one large bargaining unit is more stable than multiple small ones.
“It’s a good decision; it’s the right decision,” said Scott Lunny, director of USW’s Western Canada district. “I’m hopeful that they’re not going to see any further legal wrangling around this, and that we can just get on with it and continue to try to bargain.”
Mary Franssen, a spokesperson for Starbucks Canada, said in an email the company has bargained with the unit in good faith and will continue to work with USW in the best interest of employees.
Staff of the North American coffee giant have unionized at hundreds of Starbucks locations across the United States. But north of the border, the drive to organize Canadian Starbucks workers has moved much slower.
According to Franssen, Starbucks has more than 900 stores in Canada, 13 of which are represented by United Steelworkers, and four of which currently have collective agreements.
In BC, USW Local 2009 has two bargaining units for Starbucks workers. One is for workers at a Victoria location and has a collective agreement in place. The other initially represented baristas at the Clayton Crossing Shopping Centre Starbucks in Surrey and the Valley Centre Starbucks, about four kilometres southeast in Langley, and has been negotiating for its first collective agreement for about two years.
In 2024, the BC Labour Relations Board let USW 2009 add the Powell River café to the latter bargaining unit.
According to decision documents, the board reasoned a larger, combined unit was more likely to lead to long-term collective bargaining and stability between workers and the union. One larger bargaining unit with a single collective agreement is more stable than multiple units, which must negotiate separately, the board said in the original decision.
But Starbucks asked the board to reconsider. The company argued the board had no evidence that expanding the bargaining unit would improve negotiations. In its decision last week, the Labour Relations Board dismissed Starbucks’ complaint.
While the board conceded that adding the Powell River location to negotiations may be complicated, it said Starbucks did not prove the expansion would lead to instability.
Lunny said having workers at all three Starbucks bargain together, at a single table, gives the workers more sway in discussions with the employer.
“The way workers at Starbucks are going to achieve the power to bargain and improve their wages and working conditions is by joining with others at the same company to bargain together,” he said.
This story was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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