Starbucks is closing a store in Edgewater that last May was the one of the chain’s first locations in Chicago to unionize, the Workers United labor group said Thursday.
The store is at 1070 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Madison Lisle, an organizer with Workers United, said employees were informed last week that the store will close Oct. 30.
Lisle said employees there feel management retaliated against workers for supporting the union but that the store also had serious problems involving customer behavior and the condition of the building. Lisle said the location near the CTA’s Red Line had several police calls involving aggressive customers, some stealing tips and leaving hypodermic needles in the washroom.
“It’s complicated, but the workers feel there were no precautionary measures taken for the problems,” Lisle said.
Workers United, which is organizing at Starbucks stores around the U.S., said the company has closed 10 sites with union activity. The labor group, part of the Service Employees International Union, has filed charges of unfair labor practices over the closures.
Starbucks did not respond to requests for comment.
The union provided a statement from an Edgewater Starbucks worker identified as RJ who said the affected employees will be transferred elsewhere, but there are doubts how many hours they’ll get or about compensation for travel to new stores. “The biggest problem with this decision is the fact that it is quite literally busting our union,” RJ said.
Workers at the store voted 10-1 to unionize in May. The union has won representation elections at 7 Chicago-area stores and lost at 3.
Nationwide, it has won elections at 248 Starbucks and lost at 54, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Starbucks has about 9,000 stores in the United States.
