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Portland Starbucks near Old Port votes to unionize

Employees pushing the union said the next step is a contract. They said the union was started so they can have input during pay and scheduling decisions.

PORTLAND, Maine — Starbucks employees at the location in Portland off Exchange Street and Middle Street voted to unionize 10-3 on Monday, following several months of planning since announcing their intent to unionize on Aug. 16.

The vote to unionize means Portland and Biddeford have the only two Starbucks locations in Maine to have unionized.

"A lot of policies were being updated weekly, and if things were changing weekly, why were we not spoken with?" Mandy Cantrell, an employee with the store who drove the unionization, said.

Cantrell told NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday before the vote that the majority of the store's 16 employees wanted to unionize.

Starbucks representatives did not return NEWS CENTER Maine's request for comment on the vote to unionize.

In September, employees at the Biddeford Starbucks off Alfred Road said management retaliated against their union efforts, shifting work schedules to inconvenience employees.

"We are not anti-Starbucks. We want Starbucks to listen to us and so we can be heard. We want to be on the same page so we can all be happier working together transparently," Ash Macomber, a shift supervisor at the Biddeford Starbucks, said.

At the Portland Starbucks, employees said they have not faced similar retaliation yet and are hopeful the vote will bring them closer to a contract for all unionized Starbucks.

"We already had the majority to begin with, so yeah, I am really optimistic. I am prepared to take home a win," Cantrell told NEWS CENTER Maine before the vote on Monday evening.

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