A petition filed last week by Starbucks baristas in Mechanicsville has set the stage for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and could continue the labor efforts seen by other stores across the Richmond area.

If employees at the store, located on Bell Creek Road, vote in favor, they’ll join 11,000 other baristas at over 550 Starbucks locations in 45 states and the District of Columbia in unionizing their store, according to Starbucks Workers United (SWU).

For Haley Porter, a shift supervisor of three years with a love of coffee and the care and craft of her work, union representation is an opportunity to give her and fellow employees “[their] voice back.”

“I have felt helpless and voiceless in my store under Starbucks for too long,” Porter said in a statement. “I want Starbucks to give their baristas the resources we need to deliver care to our customers rather than another year of ‘record profits’ to pad the CEO’s pockets.”

The petition is the latest labor effort seen in Starbucks stores locally and statewide after multiple locations, including five Richmond stores, became the first in the state to vote to unionize in 2022.

The process has not been without pushback, such as the firing and rehiring of a Richmond shift supervisor in 2022 that SWU and NLRB allege was in retaliation for their support of union efforts. Richmond Starbucks stores also were among the 300 that participated in a nationwide strike on Christmas Eve.

Starbucks spokesperson Phil Gee said in a statement, “At Starbucks, our success starts and ends with our partners. We respect our partners’ right to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union or not to be represented by a union, and will continue to work together to make Starbucks the best job in retail.”

Starbucks and SWU are working with a mediator to resume bargaining and contract discussions.