DAVIS, Calif. — Workers at a Peet's Coffee location in Davis recently voted 14-1 in favor of unionizing under the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) after nine months of organizing with a "Starbucks Workers United" campaign.
The north Davis baristas are also the first to unionize a Peet's Coffee location — this one located on west Covell Boulevard.
There are about 330 Peet's Coffee locations across the country, with 242 of those coffee shops being in California.
The workers still need to elect a team of representatives and negotiate a contract with Peet's Coffee management.
ABC10 sat down with a barista who was involved in the unionization in north Davis.
"My shift's length might not change but I'm going to have more people working side-by-side — helping me make things easier," said store shift lead Ravid Tal.
He said though workers will be struggling less as they're able to get more labor in the coffee shop, the wage and employment bargaining process with Peet's Coffee management determines the long-term changes for baristas.
"Our regulars in the community have been such a powerful force in helping us get this far and succeed, and also just feel supported. I think they don't get enough credit," said Tal.
Coffee house shift lead Alyx Land also said chronic understaffing sparked the unionization efforts in north Davis.
He said the coffee business industry norm has been to run a bare-bones staff.
“Management puts the minimum amount of people they can get away with on the floor. Then we have to do a difficult job when we have a line out the door and mobile-order stickers down the counter," said Land. “It’s really exhausting.”
