‘Historic Victory’: Chipotle Workers in Michigan Vote to Form Fastfood Chain’s First Union
Labor advocates on Thursday hailed employees at a Chipotle in Michigan who voted to unionize, becoming the first of the company’s 3,000 locations to do so and adding momentum to a nationwide wave of worker organizing.
“Today’s victory is an amazing moment for our team that has worked so hard and spent many months organizing,” Samantha Smith, an 18-year-old crew member at the West Saginaw Highway Chipotle in Lansing, said in a statement following employees’ 11-3 vote to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 243.
Teamsters Local 243 president Scott Quenneville noted that “Chipotle pulled in revenue of $7.5 billion last year, and just as we’re seeing workers of all ages and backgrounds across the country take on these corporate giants, it’s so inspiring to see Chipotle workers stand up and demand more from a company that can clearly afford it.”
“The Teamsters have these workers’ backs,” he added. “They’re going to have a union they can be proud of, that knows how to get things done.”
While the Michigan Chipotle was the first to successfully unionize, it was not the first to try. As workers at a Chiptole in Augusta, Maine moved to form a union earlier this year, the company permanently closed that location, drawing accusations of union-busting and a call by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to investigate.
Labor and progressive groups and leaders applauded the Lansing Chiptole workers’ vote, with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tweeting that “with this historic victory, the grassroots trade union movement continues to spread like wildfire.”
Thursday’s vote in Lansing came amid a surge in labor organizing across the United States. Workers at more than 200 U.S. Starbucks locations, as well as employees of companies including Amazon, Amy’s, Apple, Hello Fresh, and Trader Joe’s have moved to unionize. Workers attempting to form or join unions at some of these and other companies accuse corporate management of engaging in union-busting activities.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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