<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656083383453,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed7d-d9d9-a9ec-ff7daffb0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656083383453,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000168-ed7d-d9d9-a9ec-ff7daffb0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_56083231", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1037515"} }); ","_id":"00000181-9642-d66a-a7c3-d76ffac90000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA Chipotle in Maine has taken the first step in unionizing as a wave of labor organizing grows across the country.
The majority of employees at the store in Augusta, Maine, signed union cards indicating their intent to join what is being dubbed Chipotle United and filed a petition to unionize. The employees at the burrito shop had recently staged a walkout to demonstrate against staffing problems.
“We received notice today that a petition was filed. We respect our employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act and are committed to ensuring a fair, just, and humane work environment that provides opportunities for all,” Chipotle Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laurie Schalow told CNBC.
Workers said that they hoped joining a union would help resolve some of the troubles that they were experiencing at their location, according to the Kennebec Journal. They said that the understaffing was so bad that they had to falsify food temperature logs because they didn’t have enough time with the low staff numbers to check them as scheduled.
NEW UNIONIZATION WAVE RIPPLES ACROSS US
“I care about these people more than anybody else,” said Laramie Rohr, a Chipotle employee at the location. “I hope to improve working conditions, not have to have five people working 50, 60, 70, 80 hours a week, to have the ability to close when you need to for safety reasons.”
“Because we don’t want to serve bad food,” Rohr said. “We’re proud of our food, we’re proud of our workplace, we’re proud of our coworkers. And hopefully, with this, we can continue to be proud of them and only grow that pride.”
Schalow said that after the complaints were raised, Chipotle rushed to hire and train new staff members at the location.
If successful, the Augusta store would be the first Chipotle to unionize, although it wouldn’t be the first to try. Employees of the burrito chain have attempted to join a union, but those efforts fell flat after the company pushed back.
The store joins a movement of union activity sweeping the country.
Late last year, the first Starbucks store in the United States voted to unionize. That set off a wave of other efforts at stores across the country, and in just months, more than 70 stores in 25 states voted to be represented by a union. An additional 275 of the company’s 9,000 locations in the U.S. have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a union vote.
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Earlier this year, an Amazon warehouse in New York became the first to vote in favor of unionizing, an REI store in New York did the same, and a Trader Joe’s in Massachusetts also became the first to file for a union election.
The labor board recently put out a news release in March that said during the first six months of fiscal year 2022, union representation petitions filed at the NLRB increased 57%, up to 1,174 from 748 during that same time last year. Unfair labor practice charges have also increased 14% during that same period.
